Why do coups d’état happen? Is it that bad leadership pushes people to their boiling points, compelling them to take matters into their own hands? Or is it a lack of adequate preventative laws? Do external factors play a role? And in Africa specifically, how much of an impact does history tend to have? Moreover, [...]
Search Results for: nuclear arms
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a bill that withdraws Russia as a signatory to the global nuclear test ban treaty. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is an international treaty aimed at banning all nuclear explosions on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, underwater and underground. It was adopted by the United [...]
Israel's Strategic Doctrine: Nuclear Ambiguity and Iran-Backed Terror
“For by Wise Counsel, Thou Shalt Make Thy War.” Proverbs 24,6 Israel’s nuclear posture remains closely held. On its face, this “ambiguous” stance appears perfectly reasonable. But a critically core question should now be raised: Is unmodified deliberate nuclear ambiguity (the “bomb in the basement”) still in the long-term survival interests of the beleaguered state. [...]
Russia’s Duma voted on a bill to de-ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban (CTBT) Treaty in the bill’s first reading in the State Duma on Tuesday. Members of Russia’s State Duma unanimously adopted the bill withdrawing Russia from the CTBT. Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said the Duma could consider the bill by October 19. [...]
In response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians, Israel mounted Operation Swords of Iron. Although international law allows for certain limited uses of insurgent force, including uses directed toward “self-determination,” these residual allowances do not include any rights of indiscriminate violence or of deliberate attacks on noncombatants. “Revenge,” of course, is [...]
The Enduring Consequences of Trump’s Pardons for Crimes Against International Law
“Each state is expected, perpetually, to aid and enforce the law of nations, as part of the common law, by inflicting an adequate punishment upon the offenses against that universal law.” William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Law of England (Book 4) After January 6, 2021, it was disclosed by the special investigating committee of the [...]
Israel, Counter-Terrorism, and International Law: The Analytic Challenges of 'System'
“The existence of `system’ in the world is obvious to every observer of nature, no matter whom.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man (1959) Whether conspicuous or obscure, terrorism generally presents itself as a systemic challenge. This means, inter alia, that seemingly singular strategic and legal matters may actually be many-sided and interrelated. Regarding legal issues, though [...]
Foundations of Nuclear War Avoidance: An Intellectual and Legal Challenge
“It must not be forgotten that it is perhaps more dangerous for a nation to allow itself to be conquered intellectually than by arms.” —Guillaume Apollinaire, “The New Spirit and the Poets” (1917) Nuclear weapons remain unique in the history of warfare and corresponding international law. Even a single instance of nuclear war-fighting could signify [...]
US military member in North Korea custody after crossing demilitarized zone
The UN Command announced Tuesday that a US citizen on a tour of the Joint Security Area (JSA) of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea crossed the border into North Korea and is believed to be in North Korean custody. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed that the US citizen was [...]
The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam on June 6th is emerging as one of Europe’s biggest humanitarian and ecological disasters. The dam’s collapse has destroyed entire villages, flooded farmland, displaced tens of thousands of people, deprived them of power and clean water, and caused massive environmental damage. The long-term impact of the dam’s destruction [...]