There’s been a lot of discussion at Opinio Juris this week about whether Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, can be prosecuted under the Espionage Act. See their posts here, here, and here. And read the text of the Espionage Act here. Here’s a relevant portion: Whoever, for the purpose aforesaid [e.g., obtaining information respecting […]
Dr. Nick Cullather writes on the history of development and nation- building. His most recent book, The Hungry World: America’s Cold War Battle against Poverty in Asia, was just published by Harvard University Press. He is the author of two other books, Secret History, a study of the CIA’s overthrow of Guatemala’s government, and Illusions […]
Recent attempt by global terror outfits seeking to target European interests have heighted fear within the EU that an attack in the region seems an increasing possibility. Driven by these fears there has been a renewed effort to evaluate the regions counter terror initiatives. This has led the EU’s Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove to […]
A bit of good news on the diplomatic front: The U.S. has persuaded Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko (known as Europe’s Last Dictator) to give up its stocks of highly enriched uranium (HEU). This is a significant win because Belarus has been a difficult country to deal with in the past, and it is a pretty […]
I’ve had a very busy day but on this World AIDS Day I’d be remiss if I didn’t note the U.S. role in fighting the global AIDS pandemic. What is the U.S. doing to fight AIDS? Let’s go from the general to the specific. First, let’s start with the State Department and the official statement […]
I went to a debate on nuclear energy on Monday evening sponsored by the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia. The Center is headed by Mike Gerrard, a force of nature in environmental law for over thirty years. “Should nuclear power be an important component of U.S. strategy to combat climate change?” The pros, […]
A serious trust has been breached on two levels. First, by WikiLeaks so that nary a foreign contact will wish ever to speak, or at least speak with candor, to even the lowliest Foreign Service personnel. But second, also by the notion, and the threat to life and limb, that we use our Foreign Service personnel as low-cost spies.
Patrick Frost of FPA Afghanistan writes that “the leaders and leakers of Wikileaks are rightly being near universally condemned” and argues that this condemnation should be extended to encompass the news outlets publishing the Wikileaks material. Patrick and I had this debate earlier this year. Starting here, then here, and here, and here. I suppose […]
The big news coming in is about the arrest of six Pakistanis and a Nigerian by the Spanish police in Barcelona late on Tuesday. The arrested men have been accused of having links to radical Islamic cells in Pakistan. They are suspected of providing forged passports to groups linked to al-Qaeda, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba in […]
I’ve just returned from a drumming ceremony commemorating World AIDS Day 2010. In my more jaded moments, it’s easy to dismiss these sorts of days as attempts by silos of the public health community to get their share of the limelight. But for those living with HIV and on the front lines of the fight, […]
In 1988, the UN General Assembly expressed deep concern at the pandemic proportions of the AIDS virus, and noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared 1 December 1988 World AIDS Day, the General Assembly thus drafted resolution 43/15. According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.3 million people living with HIV. Since the […]
Still traveling, in Saint Louis for a speaking engagement after spending Thanksgiving with my Mom; but wanted to comment on the most recent crisis with North Korea. 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War and the 57th of the Mutual Defense Treaty we signed with South Korea. Yet though 60 […]
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