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Full-Text Articles in Law

Moral Disarmament: Reviving A Legacy Of The Great War, James D. Fry, Saroj Nair Oct 2018

Moral Disarmament: Reviving A Legacy Of The Great War, James D. Fry, Saroj Nair

Michigan Journal of International Law

In short, this Article examines the concept of moral disarmament using a broad-spectrum definition of humanity rather than the traditional IHL perspective. Rather than referring to human rights that are impacted by armaments, this Article looks at methods through which human initiative can create a society that truly hungers for disarmament. In other words, this Article points out that the extent of change that society can bring about through education, intellectual cooperation, peace initiatives, international affairs awareness, and intercultural communication can be reflected in the economic growth, social growth, and development of states. The aim is to help the reader …


Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson Oct 2017

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

In this section: Congress Enacts Sanctions Legislation Targeting Russia • United States and Qatar Sign Memorandum of Understanding over Terrorism Financing • Trump Reverses Certain Steps Toward Normalizing Relations with Cuba • United States Announces Plans to Withdraw from Paris Agreement on Climate Change • President Trump Issues Trade-Related Executive Orders and Memoranda • United States, Russia, and Jordan Sign Limited Ceasefire for Syria • Trump Administration Recertifies Iranian Compliance with JCPOA Notwithstanding Increasing Concern with Iranian Behavior


Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson Jul 2017

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

In this section: • Trump Administration Takes Steps to Implement Bilateral Agreement with Australia Regarding Refugees • Trump Administration Criticizes NATO Members for Failing to Meet Defense Spending Guideline; United States Joins Other NATO Members in Supporting Montenegro’s Membership in the Organization • President Trump Issues Executive Orders Suspending Refugee Program and Barring Entry by Individuals from Specified Countries • Trump Administration Maintains Nuclear Deal with Iran, Despite Persistent Skepticism • United States Strikes Syrian Government Airbase in Response to Chemical Weapons Attacks by Syrian Forces; Two Additional Strikes on Syrian Government Forces Justified by Defense of Troops Rationale • …


The Future Of The Law Of Armed Conflict: Ostriches, Butterflies, And Nanobots , Eric Talbot Jensen Mar 2014

The Future Of The Law Of Armed Conflict: Ostriches, Butterflies, And Nanobots , Eric Talbot Jensen

Michigan Journal of International Law

The historical fact that the law of armed conflict (LOAC) has always lagged behind current methods of warfare does not mean that it always must. This Article will argue that the underlying assumption that law must be reactive is not an intrinsic reality inherent in effective armed conflict governance. Rather, just as military practitioners work steadily to predict new threats and defend against them, LOAC practitioners need to focus on the future of armed conflict and attempt to be proactive in evolving the law to meet future needs.


War Is Governance: Explaining The Logic Of The Laws Of War From A Principal-Agent Perspective, Eyal Benvenisti, Amichai Cohen Jan 2014

War Is Governance: Explaining The Logic Of The Laws Of War From A Principal-Agent Perspective, Eyal Benvenisti, Amichai Cohen

Michigan Law Review

What is the purpose of the international law on armed conflict, and why would opponents bent on destroying each other’s capabilities commit to and obey rules designed to limit their choice of targets, weapons, and tactics? Traditionally, answers to this question have been offered on the one hand by moralists who regard the law as being inspired by morality and on the other by realists who explain this branch of law on the basis of reciprocity. Neither side’s answers withstand close scrutiny. In this Article, we develop an alternative explanation that is based on the principal–agent model of domestic governance. …


Gas Smalls Awful: U.N. Forces, Riot-Control Agents, And The Chemical Weapons Convention, James D. Fry Jan 2010

Gas Smalls Awful: U.N. Forces, Riot-Control Agents, And The Chemical Weapons Convention, James D. Fry

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article takes a comprehensive look at the use of riot-control agents (RCAs) by U.N. forces and the legal issues that arise as a result. This Article is the first to look at these legal issues from a practical perspective, not merely a theoretical one, because prior publications have questioned what would happen if U.N. forces used these weapons, whereas this Article analyzes forty instances of actual use. This Article is designed to spark debate within the areas of peacekeeping law, collective security law, the responsibility of international organizations, and arms control law relating to RCAs, and provides compelling legal …


Asat-Isfaction: Customary International Law And The Regulation Of Anti-Satellite Weapons, David A. Koplow Jan 2009

Asat-Isfaction: Customary International Law And The Regulation Of Anti-Satellite Weapons, David A. Koplow

Michigan Journal of International Law

The argument in this Article proceeds through several steps. As background, Part I outlines the current and projected future human uses of outer space, emphasizing the plethora of civilian and military applications that now rely on satellites. The United States, especially, but other countries, too, are coming to depend on multiple space assets for the performance of a wide array of vital functions; the investment is huge, diverse, and growing, despite the costs and natural perils of operating in the harsh exoatmospheric environment.


The Use Of Force Against States That Might Have Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Matthew C. Waxman Jan 2009

The Use Of Force Against States That Might Have Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Matthew C. Waxman

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article argues that the most difficult future crises for which this legal debate is most consequential will not resemble those described by Prime Minister Thatcher or Director ElBaradei. Rather, in confronting potentially hostile and aggressive states believed to pose a WMD threat, decisionmakers contemplating the use of force will face an intelligence picture that is open to reasonable debate (contra Thatcher) and irresolvable to high levels of certainty (contra ElBaradei). This paper examines how competing legal approaches deal with this epistemic problem.


Dionysian Disarmament: Security Coucil Wmd Coercive Disarmament Measures And Their Legal Implication, James D. Fry Jan 2008

Dionysian Disarmament: Security Coucil Wmd Coercive Disarmament Measures And Their Legal Implication, James D. Fry

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article provides the first comprehensive legal analysis of the Security Council's coercive disarmament and arms control measures involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In the process of providing this legal analysis, it presents a fresh perspective on a variety of widely held beliefs about disarmament and arms control law, as well as about U.N. law.


Averting Catastrophe: Why The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Is Losing Its Deterrence Capacity And How To Restore It, Orde F. Kittrie Jan 2007

Averting Catastrophe: Why The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Is Losing Its Deterrence Capacity And How To Restore It, Orde F. Kittrie

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article analyzes from a legal perspective the responses of the international community, and especially the Security Council, to the examples of nuclear proliferation outlined in this Article and the impact of those responses on the vitality of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. In doing so, the Article identifies and focuses on two key, interrelated themes. The first theme is the effect on these responses of the NPT's remarkably weak mechanisms for detecting violations of NPT obligations. The second theme is the frequent strong reluctance of the international community, including the Security Council, to impose serious sanctions for proliferation activity when …


Preemptive Strategies In International Law, Michael N. Schmitt Jan 2003

Preemptive Strategies In International Law, Michael N. Schmitt

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article explores the appropriateness of preemptive strategies in international law. Are preemptive actions approved by the international community lawful? Can States act unilaterally or in a coalition of the willing to preempt terrorism, the development and transfer of WMD, or other threats? If so, under what circumstances and based on what quantum and quality of evidence? When can preemptive actions be taken against non-State actors such as terrorists who are based in other States?


The New Chemical Weapons Convention And Export Controls: Towards Greater Multilateralism, Urs A. Cipolat Jan 2000

The New Chemical Weapons Convention And Export Controls: Towards Greater Multilateralism, Urs A. Cipolat

Michigan Journal of International Law

The article is structured in five parts. Section I gives an overview of the history of the CWC. Section II focuses on the CWC' s material scope. This discussion is important in order to determine the items that will fall under an eventual export control obligation. Section III presents the main obligations under the CWC, while Section IV deals exclusively with the specific obligations pertaining to export controls. The implementation of these specific obligations-which, for the purposes of this article, are referred to as transfer rules-is the focus of Section V.


Footprints Of Death: Cluster Bombs As Indiscriminate Weapons Under International Humanitarian Law, Virgil Wiebe Jan 2000

Footprints Of Death: Cluster Bombs As Indiscriminate Weapons Under International Humanitarian Law, Virgil Wiebe

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article applies these principles of discrimination to the real, rather than idealized, use and characteristics of cluster bombs. Briefly stated, these principles call upon parties to an armed conflict to distinguish between civilians and combatants and to weigh the military advantages of a particular weapon or type of attack against the harm it will do to civilians and civilian objects. This Article also considers briefly the global problem of cluster munitions and examines fundamental components of the discrimination principle as they apply to cluster bombs. As three specific case studies, it analyzes the use of cluster bombs by breakaway …


The International Legal Implications Of "Non-Lethal" Weapons, David P. Fidler Jan 1999

The International Legal Implications Of "Non-Lethal" Weapons, David P. Fidler

Michigan Journal of International Law

In this Article, the author attempts a comprehensive international legal analysis of "non-lethal" weapons to raise awareness about how many international legal issues they create and about the complexity of analyzing the international legality of the development and use of these weapons. In short, the emergence of "non-lethal" weapons does not rescue international law from its crisis in connection with controlling war. Indeed, in some respects, the coming of "non-lethal" weapons threatens to deepen that crisis in new and disturbing ways.


Catastrophic Terrorism- Thinking Fearfully, Acting Legally, Barry Kellman Jan 1999

Catastrophic Terrorism- Thinking Fearfully, Acting Legally, Barry Kellman

Michigan Journal of International Law

The time has come to move beyond howls of alarm to a public discussion of what policies should be adopted or reformed. That discussion should proceed even as crucial questions remain only partially answerable: How realistic is the possibility of catastrophic terrorism? How easy is it to make a catastrophic device that actually works? Why would any person or group want to kill hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of innocent victims?


Clear And Present Danger: Enforcing The International Ban On Biological And Chemical Weapons Through Sanctions, Use Of Force, And Criminalization, Michael P. Scharf Jan 1999

Clear And Present Danger: Enforcing The International Ban On Biological And Chemical Weapons Through Sanctions, Use Of Force, And Criminalization, Michael P. Scharf

Michigan Journal of International Law

Currently there are two means of enforcing the international prohibition of chemical and biological weapons. First, the international community can induce compliance through imposition of sanctions, such as trade embargoes, freezing of assets and diplomatic isolation. Second, when sanctions fail, States can individually or collectively respond to the threat of chemical or biological weapons by using military force. After exploring the potential strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, this article examines the desirability of supplementing them with a third approach based on the criminal prosecution of persons responsible for the production, stockpiling, transfer, or use of chemical and biological weapons.


The Potential Contribution Of The Chemical Weapons Convention To Combatting Terrorism, Cecil Hunt Jan 1999

The Potential Contribution Of The Chemical Weapons Convention To Combatting Terrorism, Cecil Hunt

Michigan Journal of International Law

This paper includes an identification and brief assessment of features of the CWC that could be helpful in dealing with the danger of use of chemical weapons in terrorist activity. They are presented under six headings which should be viewed as theses. For some of these theses this paper can offer little support, but points, instead, to missed opportunities and to the need for further efforts.


Advancing The Law Of Weapons Control - Comparative Approaches To Strengthen Nuclear Non-Proliferation, David S. Gualtieri, Barry Kellman, Kenneth E. Apt, Edward A. Tanzman Jan 1995

Advancing The Law Of Weapons Control - Comparative Approaches To Strengthen Nuclear Non-Proliferation, David S. Gualtieri, Barry Kellman, Kenneth E. Apt, Edward A. Tanzman

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article analyzes in-depth the SAGSI recommendation that more effective safeguards draw upon "the elements (including the managed access provisions) contained in Part X of the Verification Annex to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.” SAGSI found that the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) offers approaches for verification and investigation that may be adaptable to the NPT.


A Memorial For Bosnia: Framework Of Legal Arguments Concerning The Lawfulness Of The Maintenance Of The United Nations Security Council's Arms Embargo On Bosnia And Herzegovina, Craig Scott, Abid Qureshi, Jasminka Kalajdzic, Francis Chang, Paul Michell, Peter Copeland Jan 1994

A Memorial For Bosnia: Framework Of Legal Arguments Concerning The Lawfulness Of The Maintenance Of The United Nations Security Council's Arms Embargo On Bosnia And Herzegovina, Craig Scott, Abid Qureshi, Jasminka Kalajdzic, Francis Chang, Paul Michell, Peter Copeland

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Memorial seeks to present a framework of legal arguments with respect to the validity and legal effects of an arms embargo imposed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 713 in September 1991 on the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia), before its dissolution, and since treated as being in force with respect to the new states that have succeeded Yugoslavia. More particularly, the Memorial addresses the legality of maintaining (or, at least, having maintained during the crucial time period) the arms embargo in force, either de jure or de facto, against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia) …


Law And Alternative Security, Burns H. Weston Jan 1989

Law And Alternative Security, Burns H. Weston

Michigan Journal of International Law

Rightly or wrongly, nuclear weapons are regarded, in their threat role at least, as effective guardians of national security. Yet nothing is more menacing to the survival of our planet than the credibly communicated threat to use nuclear weapons if and when sufficiently provoked. Ergo, to escape the mind-boggling risks posed by nuclear deterrence, thinking about how to ensure world security without relying upon nuclear weapons, either extensively or at all, is as much a political as it is a moral imperative- in truth, a matter of physical survival. Without an effective alternative to nuclear deterrence, there is no …


Proposals To Establish A Nordic Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, Bengt Broms Jan 1989

Proposals To Establish A Nordic Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, Bengt Broms

Michigan Journal of International Law

Today, after a long silence, the Nordic States are again investigating the idea of establishing a Nordic nuclear-weapon-free zone. The renewed exchange of views is no doubt partly related to the continuing development of nuclear weapons and partly to the fear that even in circumstances where nuclear weapons would not be used against the Nordic States they present a threat to the region should major war break out. This fear was mentioned by Dr. Urho Kekkonen, the President of the Republic of Finland, in an address he delivered at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs in Stockholm on May 8, …


Interpreting The Withdrawal Clause In Arms Control Treaties, Cindy A. Cohn Jan 1989

Interpreting The Withdrawal Clause In Arms Control Treaties, Cindy A. Cohn

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note argues that although a danger to future arms control may exist, a treaty clause must be susceptible to interpretation and boundaries of use which are in harmony with general international law principles. As Professor Schwelb has stated: "[I]t cannot have been… the intention of the parties to throw the principle of pacta sunt servanda overboard in favor of the anarchic idea of the unfettered right of a sovereign state to free itself unilaterally from a treaty obligation." Although Schwelb admits that the Clause itself is subject to "auto-interpretation" by the states parties to the treaty, he adds that …


Boskey & Willrich: Nuclear Proliferation: Prospects; And Willrich: Civil Nuclear Power And International Security, Charles N. Van Doren Dec 1972

Boskey & Willrich: Nuclear Proliferation: Prospects; And Willrich: Civil Nuclear Power And International Security, Charles N. Van Doren

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Nuclear Proliferation: Prospects for Control edited by Bennett Boskey and Mason Willrich, and Civil Nuclear Power and International Security edited by Mason Willrich