Regional human rights commissions are challenged in holding individuals accountable for human rights violations but have the potential to be transformative to international law. Accountability is not merely trying and punishing the person; rather accountability is a complicated process that presents the main challenges facing a regional human rights commission. These paramount problems are localContinue reading “Challenges in Accountability: Regional Human Rights Commissions”
Tag Archives: International Law
Displace the Definition of Refugee: Reforming Refugee Regime
We must redefine the norms and understandings of all refugees in the 21st century. The definition a refugee needs to be broadened and non-refoulment needs to be strengthened. Under the current refugee regime definitions, there are numerous groups that can be excluded from asylum. Regarding non-refoulment, nations have turned to containment, often external to nationalContinue reading “Displace the Definition of Refugee: Reforming Refugee Regime”
Presidential Authority: How the Ink Dries in Post-9/11
Did we start the post-9/11 frenzy of military activity legally? Did the President and subsequent leaders follow the constitution of the United States of America? To many Americans, these types of questions surrounding the terrorist attack on 9/11 and legality cause an audience to squirm and fidget. Understandably so, post-9/11 military activity appears to beContinue reading “Presidential Authority: How the Ink Dries in Post-9/11”
The Recipe is Unrealistic: Realism’s Critique of International Law
In critiquing international law (IL), the theory of realism is at its weakest when rebuffing critical theories of international relations (IR) that contribute to building discourse surrounding IL. The argument of John J. Mearsheimer, that critical theory cannot predict which discourse will replace realism but that it does, in fact, posit that realism will beContinue reading “The Recipe is Unrealistic: Realism’s Critique of International Law”