Recent Articles

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe Series: Judicial Activism, Corporate Exceptionalism, and the Puzzlement of Nestlé v. Doe
Congress has amended the Alien Tort Statute only three times. Yet judicial interpretation has significantly limited the statute's reach through "shadow amendments" to the text.…

Representation at the Top: The Importance of Race in the Austin Nomination Debate
The pushback against retired Gen. Lloyd Austin’s nomination as secretary of defense has left little room to celebrate what is also a milestone for Black Americans in and out…

COVID-19 and International Law Series: Reforming the World Health Organization
[Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series, COVID and International Law. All articles in the series can be found here.] The World Health Organization…

Polish Government’s Attacks on Rule of Law Violate Not Only EU Norms but International Law
The repeated violations of fundamental rights and principles corrode the very foundations of the democracy Poland fought so hard to win.

Early Edition: December 11, 2020
Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated guide to major national security news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news HUNTER…

We Can’t “Look Forward” on the Trump Administration’s Abuses
When President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January, he will confront a national economic crisis and a still out-of-control pandemic. He will also face questions about how to…

Could a Migrants’ Bill of Rights Provide a Blueprint for Migration Policy in the Americas?
There is a unique opportunity for new U.S. leadership to employ a rights framework both to remedy abuses and lock in collaboration on building a new migration policy architecture…

The Failed Transparency Regime for Executive Agreements
This article is cross-posted at Lawfare. In late October, the United States and Sudan reportedly signed a bilateral agreement “to resolve claims arising from the 1998…

If the US Wants to Lead on Human Rights, We Must Shift to the State and Local Level
With little fanfare, the Trump administration participated in a review of the United States’ human rights record on Nov. 9. In a rare moment of engagement with United Nations…

The UDHR, Digital Authoritarianism, and Human Rights after Trump
"A simple return to an imagined world of pre-Trump human rights is not enough."

Early Edition: December 10, 2020
Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated guide to major national security news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news US DEVELOPMENTS…

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe Series: Holding the Aiders and Abettors of Atrocity to Account
Do the Alien Tort Statute and Torture Victim Protection Act apply to those who aid in atrocities? Human rights groups - who use the statutes to prosecute these crimes - say yes.