International Law Behind The Headlines

In this episode Kal Raustiala speaks with Gian Luca Burci, former legal counsel at the World Health Organization, about how international law shapes the response of states to infectious disease. What do WHO rules permit and forbid? Does human rights law permit quarantines? What about trade embargoes and World Trade Organization commitments?

In this episode, Catherine Amirfar speaks with Professor Katharine Young, associate professor of law at Boston College Law School and expert on human rights about her take on the last decade in human rights, especially considering the work and possible effect of the State Department’s newly-formed Commission on Unalienable Rights. Professor Young also discusses the potential role of the United States in the direction of human rights discourse and enforcement in the years ahead.

In this episode with Larry Johnson, former Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs at the UN, we discuss the recent denial of a visa to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, which occurred as tensions between Iran and the US reached a boiling point. We explore the complex history and law governing travel to and from the UN and the US’s obligations as the host nation under the Headquarters Agreement.

This episode features a conversation with Avril Haines, assistant to the president and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama and the first woman to hold the positon of the Deputy Director of the CIA. Avril addresses the most recent events since the U.S.’s targeted drone strike of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, including the legal and policy ramifications of the strike for the United States and its allies, as well as the nature and extent of the President’s authority to order the strike under both international and US law.

In this episode we speak with former Sec. of Defense Carter about crafting national security strategy, the role of international lawyers, and his new book Inside the Five-Sided Box.

In this episode we talk with Penn Law Prof and foreign relations law expert Jean Galbraith about the legal basis and political context of the Trump administration’s recent—and unprecedented—suit against California for engaging in an agreement with Quebec to implement a shared cap and trade system.

In this episode, Catherine Amirfar and Kal Raustiala discuss this fall’s opening of the UN General Assembly and the key themes and issues that emerged, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and climate change.

Tensions between Iran and the US have reached a critical level, culminating in senior-level discourse during last week’s UN General Assembly meetings in which the United States, Saudi Arabia, and other countries focused on allegations that Iran was responsible for a military drone strike on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields. This is just the latest event in a quickly evolving military situation, with the Trump administration pulling the US out of the Iran Nuclear Deal and reinstating sanctions on Iran, and includes the US downing an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz. In this episode, Catherine Amirfar sits down with Brian Egan, a partner at the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, a former senior legal official at the White House and the National Security Counsel, and the Legal Adviser at the Department of State in the Obama Administration. Brian discusses the historic moment of the tension between the two countries, as well as the international legal backdrop to the risk of a U.S. military confrontation with Iran.

What information can or should the government be able to discover in the name of national security, when information is among the most valuable currency of the intelligence community? Former General Counsel to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Robert Litt, talks through issues on the legal cutting edge of intelligence gathering and privacy. Are the concepts of privacy vs. security as diametrically opposed as they seem? Is the real issue what the government knows, or how they use it? Mr. Litt answers these questions and more, and offers his comments on the state of the intelligence community, in America and abroad, as well as the assessment of the intelligence community on Russia and its interference with the U.S. presidential election.

Ben Rhodes was one of President Obama’s most trusted foreign policy advisors, the author of many of his key foreign policy speeches, and Deputy National Security Advisor. In this episode we discuss the development of two signature international agreements of the Obama years—the Iran Deal and the Paris Accord—as well as the difficulty of securing Senate consent to treaties; the role of lawyers in the Obama White House; and the current tensions between the US and China.

The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (“INF”) Treaty, which required the destruction of the ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, was a landmark nuclear arms-control pact with Russia that has been described as a cornerstone of European security. However, citing treaty violations by Russia, the Trump Administration announced its decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty in February. Drawing from his experiences at the Defense Department where he negotiated nuclear disarmament agreements and advised on international security issues, Jeff Pryce discusses his perspectives on the historical context of the INF Treaty, the U.S. decision to withdraw, Russia’s response, the situation with China, and the significance and potential impacts of its demise. Guest: Jeff Pryce, Of Counsel at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Professorial Lecturer at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Fellow at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute, and fo

In this episode, we sit down with Dame Rosalyn Higgins, former judge and President of the International Court of Justice, for her reflections on the role and practice of the Court as well as on her recent project, the Oppenheim’s International Law: United Nations (2017), a two-volume, authoritative study of the legal practice of the UN. Dame Rosalyn discusses the development of the law of immunity of international organizations, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision and Justice Breyer’s sole dissent in Jam v. International Finance Corporation, and what the case may portend for the future of multilateralism and the independence of international organizations.

In this episode we speak with Chimene Keitner, Fromm Professor of Law at Hastings and former Counselor at the State Department about the very unusual case of a foreign sovereign entity claiming immunity with regard to a subpoena from the Mueller investigation. Shrouded in extreme secrecy, the case raises interesting questions about the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and its connection to criminal, rather than civil, actions.

In this episode, Kal Raustiala speaks with use of force expert Adil Haque of Rutgers Law School, author of Law and Morality at War, about the recent skirmishes at the India - Pakistan border triggered by a cross-border terrorist attack. What are the implications for the law governing the use of force? How can states protect themselves against non-state actors taking refuge in other state’s territory?

The United States now faces three cases before the International Court of Justice: two instituted by Iran and one by Palestine. With new cases pending against the U.S. in the ICJ, the Trump Administration announced its decision to withdraw from the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights with Iran and the 1961 Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. What are the implications of the ICJ’s decision on provisional measures in Iran v. United States? Will the U.S. drop out of the case? Were the treaty withdrawal decisions an overreaction or are they justified? Guest John Bellinger discusses his perspectives on the ICJ cases against the United States and U.S. foreign policy and decision-making considerations for treaty withdrawals. Guest: John Bellinger, partner at Arnold & Porter and former Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State and Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council.

Drawing from her experiences serving at the White House and the State Department during the Obama Administration, Tess Bridgeman discusses how international law is incorporated into U.S. policy and decision-making at the highest levels, what we are seeing now under the Trump Administration, and what we can expect for the future. For one example, in an abrupt shift in policy, President Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria in a video posted on Twitter, prompting confusion and public disagreement from allies, as well as President Trump’s own advisers. What do the latest national security and foreign policy decisions of Trump Administration, including President Trump’s decision on Syria and the most recent round of U.S. treaty withdrawals, tell us about the current state of U.S. national security and foreign policy-making processes? Guest: Tess Bridgeman, former Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to the President, Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council, Special Assistan

Is a cyberwar the realm of science fiction? What is the most pressing cyber threat we face and are we prepared? What international framework do we need? Guest Carlin discusses his new book, Dawn of the Code War: America's Battle Against Russia, China, and the Rising Global Cyber Threat, and the stakes of the “code war” that requires new ways of thinking and structures to address the rising cyber threats we face at the international level as a matter of national security.

In November, Russia seized three Ukrainian vessels and crew members off the coast of Crimea in what then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley condemned as a violation of international law and “another reckless Russian escalation” in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Guest James Kraska explains the incident in the context of the conflict and legal disputes between Russia and the Ukraine, and discusses his views on the legal characterization of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the applicable international law, and the status of the Kerch Strait. Guest: James Kraska, Professor of Maritime Law at U.S. Naval War College

Is the post-World War II international order being dismantled? Are we witnessing an unprecedented assault on the international order, or are current events just part of a natural ebb and flow of history? In the inaugural episode, we sat down with top experts in international law for their assessments on the current historical moment, how we got here, and the future of the international order. In Part 2, guests José Alvarez and Jack Goldsmith assess and question the actual impact and role of the Trump Administration in the current challenges to the international order. Guests: José Alvarez, Professor of International Law at New York University School of Law and former president of ASIL; Jack Goldsmith, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and former U.S. Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, and Special Counsel to the General Counsel to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Is the post-World War II international order being dismantled? Are we witnessing an unprecedented assault on the international order, or are current events just part of a natural ebb and flow of history? In the inaugural episode, we sat down with top experts in international law for their assessments on where we stand today, how we got here, and the future of the international order. In Part I, guests Harold Koh, Oona Hathaway, and Dapo Akande give their assessments on the current historical moment, touching on Brexit, the role of China in the international order, the rise of populism, and hopes for the future. Guests: Harold Koh, Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and former Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State; Oona Hathaway, Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and former Special Counsel to the General Counsel for National Security Law at the U.S. Department of Defense; and Dapo Akande, Professor of Public International Law and the University of Oxford.