By Rick Mendenhall

Fasten your seatbelts, fellow international law enthusiasts! Your very own Georgetown Journal of International Law is hosting a symposium next Friday April 10 on the Gewirz 12^th Floor. The theme of the panel discussion will be World Cops Without World Courts, but topics will also include: the foreign affairs power and modern Supreme Court jurisprudence, practitioners before international institutions, and alternate venues for international law. A reception will follow closing remarks from 4:45 until 5:30.

To the avid SCOTUSblog follower, the foreign affairs power is no stranger. Just last November SCOTUS heard arguments in Zivotofsky v. Kerry. While the case dealt with a relatively tame statute that regulated the Secretary of State’s conduct, the foreign affairs power may have larger significance in the coming months due to the multilateral Iranian treaty the United States is negotiating as we speak. If issues like these interest you, be sure to join us next Friday!

Read More

April 06, 2015

By Jenny Park

When North Korea makes belligerent threats of nuclear annihilation and actually carries out nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, the world’s response is surprisingly lukewarm. This is an odd phenomenon considering the tougher sanctions against Russia for supporting the separatists in Ukraine, and against Iran for a multitude of transgressions, including continued illicit nuclear activities. 

But North Korea’s violations of international law are quite extensive. To name a few, North Korea developed nuclear weapons after withdrawing from the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and tested them out not only once in 2006, but also in 2009 and in 2012. Mind you, China, the U.S., Japan, Russia, and the two Koreas have engaged in six-party talks from 2003 to 2007 to try to resolve North Korea’s nuclear issue to no avail. Furthermore, the multiple UN sanctions (UNSecurity Council Resolutions 1718, 1874, and 2094) that imposed economic and commercial pressures against North Korea also proved to be ineffective. 

Read More

November 19, 2014