Sunday, June 15

International Law, Legal Battles

International Law includes rules from treaties, conventions, declarations, agreements, and customs. It involves the UN Security Council, the International Court of Justice, also called the “World Court,” the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the World Bank. For more information, see our International Law Resources page.

Turkey: NATO Should Have Stopped Russia’s Invasion
25Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Geopolitics, International Law, Legal Battles, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Brief

Turkey: NATO Should Have Stopped Russia’s Invasion

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an joins a virtual NATO meeting on Feb. 25, 2022. Source: Turkey's Government February 25, 2022--As Russia closed in on Ukraine's capital city Kyiv, the NATO alliance held an emergency virtual meeting today. Just hours before the meeting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an suggested that NATO and the European Union should have stopped the invasion. "NATO should have taken a more decisive step," Erdogan said to reporters, according to Reuters and other press reports. "The EU and all the rest of the West have failed to display a decisive and serious stance. They give plenty of advice to Ukraine. It’s not possible to get a result through this advice," Erdo?an said. Turkey is a NATO member and a neighbor of Russia. In a press release on Thur...
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International Community Responds to Russia’s Breach of Ukraine’s Borders
23Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, International Law, Legal Battles, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

International Community Responds to Russia’s Breach of Ukraine’s Borders

February 23, 2022—The international community rallied support for Ukraine and joined the United States in issuing new sanctions against Russia. It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine after recognizing them as independent states. Today, leaders from Poland and Lithuania stood by the side of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a news conference as he asked for an "immediate and harsh" response by the international community. And respond, they did. The European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and Canada announced new sanctions against Russia. This follows yesterday's announcement by U.S. President Joe Biden about the "first tranche of sanctions." In some cases, like those in the United Kingdo...
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Biden Announces New Sanctions Against Russia
22Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
International Law, Legal Battles, Sanctions

Biden Announces New Sanctions Against Russia

Biden Says U.S. Allies Are 'United in Support of Ukraine' February 22, 2022--President Joe Biden announced new sanctions against Russia, two Russian banks and individuals today in the wake of Russia's breach of Ukraine's borders. Biden said the new sanctions go that "far beyond" those enacted in 2014. This comes in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's recognition of two Ukrainian regions as independent and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. New 'First Tranche' of Sanctions The new U.S. sanctions apply to: Two state-owned financial institutions, VEB and PSB, which support Russia’s defense capability and its economy.Russian elites, including Denis Aleksandrovich Bortnikov, a Russian official and an executive at VTB Bank, Petr Mikhailovich Fradkov, chairman and CEO of PSB ...
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US, Japan And South Korea Issue Statement For ‘Free And Open Indo-Pacific’
14Feb By Jacob DavenportNo Comments
Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, International Development, International Law, Legal Battles, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

US, Japan And South Korea Issue Statement For ‘Free And Open Indo-Pacific’

Leaders Condemn Missile Launches By DPRK February 14, 2022--Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii on Saturday, the top diplomats for the United States, Japan, and South Korea released a joint statement promising to collaborate on an Indo-Pacific strategy. The statement comes after North Korea (DPRK) launched nine ballistic missiles in the month of January, challenging the Biden Administration. U.S. Strategy for the Indo-Pacific In response to that and other diplomatic challenges, namely by China, President Joe Biden released a new strategy this month for the Indo-Pacific region. The strategy suggests the United States is stepping up its diplomacy, foreign assistance and participation in regional organizations to counter China's growing influence in the East and South China Seas. U.S....
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EU Backs Lithuania Against China Trade Restrictions
2Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Global Trade, International Law, Legal Battles, Types of News: Brief

EU Backs Lithuania Against China Trade Restrictions

EU Commissioner meets with the Lithuanian president. Lithuania's Recognition of Taiwan is at the Center of the Trade Spat February 2, 2022--The European Union opened a dispute in the World Trade Organization against China in defense of EU-member Lithuania. The request for dispute consultations alleges that China restricted trade with Lithuania in violation of international rules governing trade. According to the EU, the trade restrictions are "novel, numerous, recurrent, and persisting" and "show a targeted prohibition or restriction" against Lithuanian goods and services. Furthermore, the complaint says, trade restrictions impact supply chains throughout the EU. Finally, the EU claims the restrictions violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT). 'No Othe...
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As Israeli Leader Rejects Palestinian State, Norway Steps Up Diplomacy
17Nov By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, International Development, Human rights, International Law, Legal Battles, Middle East, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Analysis

As Israeli Leader Rejects Palestinian State, Norway Steps Up Diplomacy

November 17, 2021--Amid a rejection of the two-state solution by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Norway's Foreign Ministry is hosting talks today with the goal of building up rule of law in the Palestinian territories. Today's meeting in Oslo, Norway represents the first in-person ministerial meeting by the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) in two years. Norway's newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt led the discussion. It's significant on multiple fronts. First, Norway is often instrumental in achieving breakthroughs in diplomacy. Earlier this year, the country's representatives achieved a solution for aid workers to continue to use a border crossing between Turkey and Syria. Later they helped bring Venezuelan leaders together with its opposition in Me...
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UK, US Diplomats Denounce Taliban’s Crimes Against Humanity
2Aug By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, International Law, Legal Battles, Types of News: Brief, UN Security Council

UK, US Diplomats Denounce Taliban’s Crimes Against Humanity

August 2, 2021--Following reporting by a human rights organization about retaliatory killing by the Taliban in Afghanistan, diplomats for the United States and the United Kingdom took to Twitter to call for accountability. The latest report comes after an attack against a UN compound in Herat, Afghanistan. It also follows news from the United Nations about a sharp rise in civilian killings in Afghanistan since May. As violence rises, many international diplomats are questioning whether the Taliban could ever be trusted to govern and take part in peace talks. A UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan warns that 2021 is on track to witness the "highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since UNAMA records began." Retaliatory Killings The Afghanistan Inde...
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UN Security Council Unanimously Backs US-Russian Deal on Syrian Aid
14Jul By Spencer HayesNo Comments
Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, International Development, International Law, Legal Battles, Types of News: Brief

UN Security Council Unanimously Backs US-Russian Deal on Syrian Aid

UN Security Council Unanimously Supports Compromise Plan On Aid Route. July 9, 2021 'Catastrophe Averted' For Syrian Refugees With One-Year Extension July 14, 2021—In a sign that diplomacy can work, the United Nations Security Council voted 15-0 late last week on a plan to keep a key transportation route open for humanitarian aid for Syrians impacted by the 10-year civil war. The action extends for one year a cross-border route along the Syrian-Turkish border for another 12 months. The high-level decision on the Bab al-Hawa border crossing impacts millions of Syrians. “Parents can sleep tonight knowing that their children will be fed for the next 12 months. The humanitarian agreement we have reached here will literally save lives,” said Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ...
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Trade in Plastic Waste is Coming to A Halt, in Part
28May By Patti MohrNo Comments
Climate Action, ESG, Sustainable Finance, International Law, Legal Battles, Types of News: Brief

Trade in Plastic Waste is Coming to A Halt, in Part

May 28, 2019--Amid a decline in trade of plastic waste, Malaysia announced it would return 3,000 tons of plastic trash to exporting countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States and Saudi Arabia. "Malaysia won’t continue to be a dumping ground for the developed nations and those responsible for destroying our ecosystem with these illegal activities are traitors," Malaysia Environmental Minister Yeo Bee Yin, told reporters on Tuesday, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. "We will fight back. Even though we are a small country, we will not be bullied." The problem, the Malaysian ministry said, is that countries are shipping low-quality plastics that cannot be recycled -- a move that is against the country's laws. “Garbage is traded under t...
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What’s Ahead for the Global Economic Order After G7 Summit?
11Jun By Patti MohrNo Comments
Global Economics, Global Trade, International Law, Legal Battles, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Analysis

What’s Ahead for the Global Economic Order After G7 Summit?

June 11, 2018--Before exiting early from the G7 Summit in Canada and withdrawing his endorsement for the joint communique, U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated an edit that has a major impact on the global economy. Specifically, Trump's team insisted on changing the phrase "the rules-based international order" to "a rules-based international trading system." While the edit may seem small, it may represent one of the most significant geopolitical shifts in 70 years. The change from "the" to "a" indicates that Trump -- and now also the other six signers of the 2018 communique -- no longer support the rules-based international order that the United States and its allies put in place in the post-World War II world. Instead, they now support a theoretical system, however abstract or ...
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