Taking Treaties Less Seriously

1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-462
Author(s):  
Detlev F. Vagts
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject

A decade ago, my predecessor as Editor in Chief wrote a trenchant critique of what he saw as a tendency of the United States not to give its treaty obligations the weight they deserved. I return to the subject to report that the last ten years have seen an alarming exacerbation of that situation. The mood in the United States about treaty commitments has turned distinctly negative. This has gone so far as to dismay both actual and potential treaty partners of the United States and, in general, all who are concerned about the performance of the country in the realm of international law. Some of the manifestations of this mood can be dismissed as eccentric, at the level of Christian militias’ expressions of anxiety about the prospects of black-painted helicopters dropping United Nations forces into Montana and Idaho. The more worrisome part of it is the prevalence of distaste for treaty commitments in Congress and other influential circles, including the media.

Różne perspektywy dotyczące skutków art. 95 CISG

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Danuta Pohl-Michałek
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
International Sale Of Goods ◽  
Conflict Of Law

The 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) was adopted in order to provide uniform rules governing the international sale of goods. It has already been ratified by an impressive number of 92 Contracting States, with the major trading countries taking the lead. The CISG applies to contracts for the sale of goods between parties whose places of business are in different States, where the States are CISG Contracting States (Article 1(1)(a)). Moreover, it applies to contracts for the sale of goods when the contracting parties have their places of business in different States and when the rules of private international law lead to the application of the law of a CISG Contracting State (Article 1(1)(b)). However, at the time of ratification, the prospective Contracting States are given the possibility of making additional reservations, including one set out in Article 95 CISG, which limits the application of Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention. Although there are some CISG Contracting States that initially applied the reservation but have since withdrawn it, there are still a few Contracting States where the reservation remains[1], including the two largest trading countries – China and the United States. The paper presents various approaches regarding the interpretation of the effects of the reservation set out in Article 95 CISG, which in fact challenge the principle of the uniform interpretation and application of the Convention’s provisions. The author argues that the Article 95 CISG reservation leads to increased confusion and problematic conflict of law issues that bring more chaos than benefits.   [1] The remaining Article 95 CISG Reservatory States are: Armenia, China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Slovakia and the United States of America. Information is based on the official website: https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=X-10&chapter=10 (accessed: 9.12.2019).

scholarly journals 9/11 as False Flag: Why International Law Must Dare to Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Baker Benjamin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
September 11 ◽  
African History ◽  
The Us ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International War

At the heart of contemporary international law lies a paradox: the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001 have justified 16 years of international war, yet the official international community, embodied principally in the United Nations, has failed to question or even scrutinise the US government's account of those attacks. Despite the emergence of an impressive and serious body of literature that impugns the official account and even suggests that 9/11 may have been a classic (if unprecedentedly monstrous) false-flag attack, international statesmen, following the lead of scholars, have been reluctant to wade into what appears to be a very real controversy. African nations are no strangers to the concept of the false flag tactic, and to its use historically in the pursuit of illegitimate geopolitical aims and interests. This article draws on recent African history in this regard, as well as on deeper twentieth-century European and American history, to lay a foundation for entertaining the possibility of 9/11-as-false-flag. This article then argues that the United Nations should seek to fulfil its core and incontrovertible ‘jury’ function of determining the existence of inter-state aggression in order to exercise a long-overdue oversight of the official 9/11 narrative.

Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law

1993 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-111
Author(s):  
Marian Nash
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
George Bush ◽  
Environment And Development ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Contemporary Practice

On September 8, 1992, President George Bush transmitted to the Senate for advice and consent to ratification the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted at New York on May 9, 1992, by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change and signed on behalf of the United States at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro on June 12, 1992.

In Defense of the Supreme Court Decision in Alvarez-Machain

1992 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 736-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malvina Halberstam
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
International Law ◽  
Supreme Court Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Court Decision ◽  
Drug Enforcement ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Criminal Suspects ◽  
The Media

In United States v. Alvarez-Machain, the Supreme Court sustained the jurisdiction of a U.S. court to try a Mexican national, charged with various counts of conspiracy, kidnaping and the murder of a U.S. drug enforcement agent in Mexico, even though his presence in the United States was the result of abduction rather than extradition pursuant to the Extradition Treaty between the United States and Mexico. The Court did not hold, as widely reported in the media, that the Treaty permits abduction, that abduction is legal, or that the United States had a right to kidnap criminal suspects abroad. On the contrary, the Court acknowledged that the abduction may have been a violation of international law. It stated, “Respondent and his amici may be correct that respondent’s abduction was ’shocking’ and that it may be in violation of general international law principles.”

A Lack of Language – Waging War or Combatting Crime? The Blurred Rule of International Law in the Face of the Attacks of September 11, 2001

2001 ◽  
Vol 2 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claus Binder
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
The Face ◽  
The United Nations

After the terrorists' attacks of September 11, 2001, a lot of war rhetoric came out of the public and private sphere within the United States of America. On October 7, 2001, however, the rhetoric turned into reality as President George W. Bush countered the terrorist attacks and the threat of future terrorism with military means. While waging that new war U.S. governmental officials constantly make one important point, and that is that the United States are just exercising their right of self-defense. Moreover, on the day after the attacks, the Security Council of the United Nations unanimously reaffirmed the inherent right of self-defense as recognized by the Charter of the United Nations. Does that mean that international law is just that clear?

Book Reviews: Political Ideas, Hobbes's Science of Politics, Adam Ferguson: The History of Civil Society, The Works of Joseph De Maistre, Rosa Luxemburg, Marxism in Modern France, Marxist Ideology in the Contemporary World, The Moral Challenge of Communism, The Principles of Politics, Pacifism: An Historical and Sociological Study, The Pacifist Conscience, Pacifisme Et Internationalisms, Non-Violent Action: Theory and Practice, The Mafia and Politics, The Honoured Society, The Foundations of Freedom, The Real World of Democracy, The Left in Europe since 1789, Conflict in Society, The Study of Society, Communication and Political Power, Greater London: The Politics of Metropolitan Reform, Guide to Decision: The Royal Commission, Tizard, A Peril and a Hope, The Scientific Estate, Cases and Materials on Constitutional and Administrative Law, Occasional Papers on Social Administration: No, Land Values, Pensions and Public Servants, Public Sector Pensions, The Responsible Society: The Ideas of Guild Socialism, The Growth of the British Party System, The Government of Northern Ireland: Public Finance and Public Services 1921–1964, An Atlas of European Affairs, Nordic Cooperation: Conference Organised by The Nordic Council at Hasselby, 2–4 June 1965, L'Union Economique Belgo—Luxembourgeoise: Experiences Et Perspectives D'Avenir, Western European Integration, Walter Hallstein: Bibliographie Seiner Veroffent-Lichungen, Europäische Gegenwart: Schriften Zur Europapo-Litik, Columbia Essays in International Affairs, European Challenge. Tuairim Pamphlet No. 11, The Uneasy Entente, The European Idea, Atomic Energy Policy in France under the Fourth Republic, Private Interest and Public Policy, Verbände Und Gesetzgebung, Wohin Treibt Die Bundesrepublik?, The Germans and their Modern History, Wirtschaft Und Politik in Deutschland, Demogratic Parties in the Low Countries and Germany, The Political Vocation, Private Power and American Democracy, The National Guard in Politics, Envoy Extraordinary, Nehru: A Contemporary's Estimate, The Philosophy of Mr. Nehru, Nehru: The Years of Power, Apprentice to Power: India, 1904–1908, Dawn of Renascent India, The Congress Ideology and Programme, 1920–47, South Asian Affairs, Number Two: The Movement for National Freedom in India, The Political Philosophy of M. N. Roy, Sarojini Naidu: A Biography, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (1884–1911), Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict, Gandhi and the Nuclear Age, Research on the Bureaucracy of Pakistan, Political Development in Pakistan, Buddhism or Communism, Religion and Politics in Burma, Communism in Africa, African Powder Keg, The Political Awakening of Africa, Pan-Africanism and East African Integration, Britain and the Commonwealth, Governments of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth for a Colour-Blind World, Unscrambling an Empire, A Decade of the Commonwealth, 1955–1964, The Establishment of the Department of Trade: A Case-Study in Administrative Organization, Administrative Questions and Political Answers, Planning and Forecasting in New Zealand, Decisions: Case Studies in Australian Administration, Economic Development, Politics of the Developing Nations, The Rise and Fall of Western Colonialism, The Political Basis of Economic Development, Political Oppositions in Western Democracies, Mathematics and Politics, The New Utopians, Symbols of American Community 1735–1775, The Case of Richard Sorge, An Instance of Treason, The Roots of Appeasement, Silesia, Yesterday and Today, Teuton and Slav, The Transfer of the Sudeten Germans, The Reluctant Ally, Rumania: Russia's Dissident Ally, The New Eastern Europe, Problems of National Strategy, Decision-Making for Deffnce, International Political Communication, Propaganda and the Cold War, The Effect of Independence on Treaties, United Nations and Domestic Jurisdiction, Cambridge Essays in International Law, The Inductive Approach to International Law, Politics and Power, Eine Welt Oder Keine?, The Dynamics of International Organization: The Making of World Order, International Behaviour: A Social-Psychological Analysis, Diplomatic Investigations, Theory and the International System, Annihilation and Utopia, The State of War, Nationalism Old and New, Dimensions Du Nationalisme, Protest in Tokyo: The Security Treaty Crisis of 1960, Soviet Strategies in South-East Asia, Defeating Communist Insurgency, towards Peace in Indo-China, South Vietnam: Nation under Stress, Communism in North Vietnam, Vietnam: History, Documents and Opinions on a Major World Crisis, Vietnam and the United States, Thailand and the Struggle for South-East Asia, Thailand and the United States, South-East Asia's Second Front, South Asia, International Economic Integration, Communist Economic Challenge, The Third World, The Economics of Competitive Coexistence, U.S, The Western Hemisphere Idea: Its Rise and Decline, American Support of Free Elections Abroad, The United States and Latin American Wars 1932–1942, The Unwritten Alliance, The Pan-American Federation of Labor, A Latin American Common Market?, Proceedings of a Seminar on Commonwealth Responsibilities for Security in the Indo-Pacific Region. Australian Institute of International Affairs and the Australian National University Defence Studies Project, The Anzus Treaty Alliance, Australian Policies and Attitudes Towards China, World Politics in the General Assembly, The United Nations in the Balance, United Nations: Then and now, The Glasshouse: The United Nations in Action, The Trauma of Decolonization: The Dutch and West New Guinea, De L'Impérialisme À La Décolonisation, Self-Determination Revisited in the Era of Decolonisation, The Elephants and the Grass, Afro-Asia and Non-Alignment

1967 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-289
Author(s):  
Michael Levin ◽  
J. W. N. Watkins ◽  
A. S. Skinner ◽  
Alan Ryan ◽  
John Plamenatz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
East Asia ◽  
International Law ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
International Affairs

The World Court and Jus Cogens

1987 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon A. Christenson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Jus Cogens ◽  
United Nations Charter

In the merits phase of decision in the case brought by Nicaragua against the United States, the World Court briefly mentions references by states or publicists to the concept of jus cogens. These expressions are used to buttress the Court’s conclusion that the principle prohibiting the use of force found in Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter is also a rule of customary international law.

International Law Aspects of Repatriation of Prisoners of War During Hostilities: A Reply

1973 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-710
Author(s):  
Howard S. Levie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Law ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Geneva Convention ◽  
The United States ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Humanitarian Organization ◽  
Forward Looking

In the July 1973 issue of the Journal, there appeared an article with the above title written by Professor Richard Falk, in which he, in effect, advanced the thesis that the release of prisoners of war for repatriation during the course of hostilities in Vietnam to an ad hoc and self-styled “humanitarian organization” (which admittedly consisted solely of individuals who were vocal opponents of the United States participation in those hostilities) either constituted a valid and forward-looking interpretation of the provisions of the Geneva Convention of 1949 relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (hereinafter referred to as “the 1949 Convention”) or indicated the need for revision of that instrument. The subject appears to be one which calls for an analysis in considerably greater depth than the treatment provided in the article by Professor Falk.

scholarly journals PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW IN BRAZIL: A BRIEF OVERVIEW

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-37
Author(s):  
Carmen Tiburcio
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
The Subject

The paper is intended to provide an overview of Private International Law in Brazil. With this purpose, it presents in broad lines the subject matters of the discipline, undertaking, whenever possible, comparisons with the contours given to it in the United States. In sum, the text deals with the acquisition of Brazilian nationality, the status of aliens, the determination of the applicable legislation to legal relationships with international connections – which includes the exam of Brazilian connecting rules and principles of Private International Law – and the exercise of Brazilian jurisdiction.

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