Abstract: Although US President Donald Trump may eventually be content with achieving only modest operational successes against Iran, there is reason to believe he would still prefer some notion of a military “victory.” Any such notion would likely be starkly injurious to overall US security interests. Derivatively, as shall now be argued, any such erroneous [...]
On 03 January, the US launched a drone strike against the Iranian defence chief Qasem Soleimani. The strike occurred while Soleimani was in Iraq and it killed both the general and a number of other personnel in the area, including Iraqis. The event raises questions that touch on various aspects of international law. For example, there is the [...]
Myths, often ancient traditional stories that are designed to prescribe moral or traditional values, are fantastical but also highly rational. That is because myths describe a commonly manifested belief on the way we view the world. In 1992, Professor Jane Rutherford utilised the myth of Robin Hood in order to make a point about the [...]
Americans love to pretend that the Constitution is a legal document. Of course, it’s nothing of the sort. At best, it’s a restatement of an imaginary common ideology, a Rorschach card onto which we project our vision of the ideal legal order. The Constitution enables us to resolve political problems by magically transforming them into [...]
Suppose someone posts a message on social media suggesting he might shoot up a movie theatre, and punctuates the point with a photo in which he is holding an AK-47-style rifle. Can the government temporarily confiscate the person’s firearms, in order to ensure that he does not pose a threat to himself or members of [...]
Impeachment has always been a combustible mix of constitutional law and constitutional politics, but the way in which impeachment integrates law and politics has evolved from the framing of the Constitution to the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century and may be further evolving at present. The framers designed an impeachment system that would [...]
Everything old is new again, and court-packing is no exception. In 1937, faced with a conservative Supreme Court that consistently invalidated his New Deal legislation, President Roosevelt announced a plan to increase the size of the court and add justices who would rule in his favor. It was a bridge too far. While Roosevelt’s plan [...]
Rule of Law and Transitional Justice: A New Islamic Discipline “The recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto (in degree): but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah . . . But indeed, if any show patience and forgive, that would truly be an exercise of courageous [...]
Consideration of blockchain legislation is a growing trend amongst state legislatures. Blockchain, which is essentially a more secure form of internet, has been expanding into new markets. This has increasingly caught the attention of legislators, who hope to capitalize on the potential economic gains by allowing for the implementation of the technology within the state. [...]
US President Donald Trump’s expanding crises with both North Korea and Iran, and his apparent willingness to withdraw from a second US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty, are just some currently prominent examples of a longer standing problem with world politics and international law. This problem is the continuing US inclination to base American national security [...]
