Four hundred years ago, the United East India Company hired Hugo Grotius, who would later be memorialized as the “father of international law,” to legitimize Dutch sea power in the South China Sea. Dennis Harbin illustrates that Grotius and the legal defense he crafted would have major implications for competition between democracies and autocracies centuries… Continue reading Lawfare and Sea Power: A Historical Perspective
Category: Issue Archive
The Case for Attempted Perfidy: An “Attempt” to Enhance Deterrent Value
Mitigating the risk of deliberate attacks against civilians and other individuals protected by international humanitarian law is among the most fundamental objectives of international legal regulation of armed conflicts. Central to this risk mitigation is the categorical prohibition against deliberately attacking civilians and other protected individuals (unless and for such time as they directly participate… Continue reading The Case for Attempted Perfidy: An “Attempt” to Enhance Deterrent Value
An Army Turned Inward: Reforming the Insurrection Act to Guard Against Abuse
Elizabeth Goitein and Joseph Nunn argue that the Insurrection Act is one of the most powerful and wide-ranging authorities available to the President of the United States. The Act authorizes the president to deploy US armed forces and the militia to suppress insurrections, quell civil unrest and domestic violence, and otherwise enforce the law in… Continue reading An Army Turned Inward: Reforming the Insurrection Act to Guard Against Abuse