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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

International Law

2005

Selected Works

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

"Anticipatory Self-Defense" And Other Stories, Jeanne M. Woods, James M. Donovan Dec 2005

"Anticipatory Self-Defense" And Other Stories, Jeanne M. Woods, James M. Donovan

James M. Donovan

We argue that the specious justification for the invasion of Iraq -- a war based on a pretext of anticipatory self-defense -- necessarily exacerbates the inherent tendency of war to dehumanize and humiliate the enemy. This tendency is particularly evident in the variant of anticipatory self-defense that we have denominated as "capacity preemption," a type of claim that by definition depends upon characterizations of the opponent as utterly inhuman.

The Bush Doctrine tells a timeless story of self-defense. This story is shaped by an identifiable and predictable narrative structure, one that is able to transform the morally outrageous -- an …

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The Two Faces Of Intercountry Adoption: The Significance Of The Indian Adoption Scandals, David M. Smolin Jun 2005

The Two Faces Of Intercountry Adoption: The Significance Of The Indian Adoption Scandals, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This article summarizes international law, and the law of India and the United States, relevant to intercountry adoption. The article then presents extensive information and analysis of a major series of adoption scandals in Andhra Pradesh, India. The article uses this analysis of law and a major series of adoption scandals to present the "two sides of intercountry adoption:" positively, as a humanitarian act, and negatively as a form of child trafficking. The weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the intercountry adoption system that led to the Indian adoption scandals are extensively analyzed.

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Intercountry Adoption As Child Trafficking, David M. Smolin Jun 2005

Intercountry Adoption As Child Trafficking, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This article analyzes when intercountry adoption constitutes a form of child trafficking, particularly under international law. The article reviews relevant Treaties on the subjects of slavery and human trafficking, as well as analyzing the problem of money and adoption within the domestic (United States) adoption system.

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If Afghanistan Has Failed, Then Afghanistan Is Dead: ‘Failed States’ And The Inappropriate Substitution Of Legal Conclusion For Political Description, David D. Caron Dec 2004

If Afghanistan Has Failed, Then Afghanistan Is Dead: ‘Failed States’ And The Inappropriate Substitution Of Legal Conclusion For Political Description, David D. Caron

David D. Caron

A Bush Administration memorandum argued that the Geneva Conventions did not apply in Afghanistan because Afghanistan was no longer a state and therefore no longer a party to those treaties. This article argues both that there is not precedent for such a "failed state" doctrine and that it is, as a normative matter, not a desirable doctrine. It is argued that the memorandum inappropriately jumped from the political science description of a state that can no longer deliver basic services to the legal conclusion that the state no longer existed. A step taken despite the fact that no state (including …

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