The end of 2023 became a demonstration of how bad policy had lead to the most evident atrocities ever documented in recorded history. What prevents many of these modern conflicts from spiralling out of control was a relatively new form of AI, in advanced missile systems that are capable of intercepting air and ballistic […]
At this point the world knows that Iran’s Air Defense shot down a Boeing 737 800 filled with its own citizens, many Canadian citizens, the Ukrainian crew and nationals from a few other countries shortly after launching a ballistic missile attack on Iraq. Evidence shows that two missiles were fired at the plane. This was […]
With the current escalation of tensions between the US and its Allies in the Middle East against Iran and its proxy forces in the region, there have been questions around the legitimacy of actions taken by both sides. With escalating actions against US and Western interests in the Persian Gulf and a final act against […]
The scope of the conspiracy, the magnitude of the savagery, the imbecility of the cover-up, and the subsequent cheap royal mea culpa were all appalling. Jamal Khashoggi’s death was a premeditated murder. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, insisted that this criminal act transgressed against both Turkey-Saudi relations and all diplomatic norms, and that this could […]
When the result of the arbitration on the South China Sea dispute was announced, the Chinese government and the public reacted strongly.
The indiscriminate killing of civilians in order to fight terrorism is unlawful. Moreover, the state’s brutal response has actually led to an increase in the number of terrorist attacks.
On January 12, 2016, 10 U.S. sailors were detained by Iran’s Navy and later released. Can Iran’s behavior in its territorial waters be considered justifiable or in accordance with international law?
China sent the diplomatic world into a spin on November 23 by declaring an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea. This is cause for some concern, given the state of Sino-Japanese relations. The concern has been boosted by some vague and rather provocative Chinese statements but also by the fact that […]
On Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) will enter into force. The MLC, 2006 is an extremely comprehensive convention considered to be the “fourth pillar” of international maritime law. Though it enjoyed unanimous adoption within the ILO, the sheer breadth of the MLC, 2006 raised skepticism […]
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Nearly 500 miles of European land mass fell away, the English Channel hollowed out, the great earth shifted and the continent merged with the island to its west. When all came to rest, the medieval cityscape of Strasbourg, France, sat atop London… No, certainly not. But for many a Europe-weary Briton, it felt as such […]
Regular readers of Foreign Policy Blogs may be familiar with the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Trevor Keck and Joe Gurowsky, for instance, have touched on the topic in earlier posts. Having been approved by the General Assembly after two decades of advocacy, the treaty will open for signature on June 3. It will go into […]
In the difficult and often futile attempts by the human rights community to hierarchize rights for academic reasons or for the purpose of prioritizing implementation, free speech rights have always been given the highest priority. The content of expressive rights has been classified as “first-generation,” signaling a larger sense of fundamental importance than other rights […]
United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) peacekeepers have been busy assisting the Congolese brigades over the past week in the fight against rebels known as M23 based in Bunagana. This comes at a crucial time, as the provincial capital of Goma, a military stronghold, may be overrun. This […]
Dr. Payam Akhavan is a Professor of International Law at McGill University, co-founder of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre, and the first Legal Advisor to the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Tribunals at The Hague. Dr. Akhavan sat down with Reza Akhlaghi, senior writer at Foreign Policy Association, to discuss the following issues: […]