29 July 2026
US–Saudi Arabia Nuclear Cooperation
On 22 July 2026, the US administration announced a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia. Under this deal, the US will provide support to the Golf country to establish a civilian nuclear programme. This is worrisome given statements by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, that once Iran has nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia would follow suit. Given the nuclear-induced tensions in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the scope of the agreement, this newly formed cooperation may put another nail in the coffin of the international non-proliferation regime. Continue reading >>
1 
24 July 2026
Impeaching a Judge for Federalist Society Membership
On June 29 the U.S. Supreme Court decided Trump v. Slaughter. The ruling completed a forty-year project. Unitary executive theory is one part of it, the claim that the president alone controls the entire executive branch. The rest is a body of rulings that place a president beyond prosecution, leave the disqualification clause unenforceable and remove the independence Congress built into agencies. Judges credentialed through a single organization delivered all of it. In my view, membership in the Federalist Society is sufficient cause to impeach and remove a federal judge. Continue reading >>08 July 2026
(De)Valuing Citizenship
Last Tuesday, the US Supreme Court released its final merits opinion of its October 2025 term. In Trump v Barbara, a razor thin 5-4 majority deemed the President’s attempt to deny American citizenship to children born on U.S soil to immigrant parents who are undocumented or present on certain visas unconstitutional. The decision is a rare and important win for immigrants and American constitutional democracy. But Barbara should not be remembered as an example of principled judicial resistance against gross executive overreach. Continue reading >>
0
30 June 2026
Black is the New Orange
Last week, eight anti-ICE protesters were sentenced at the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, receiving a combined 450 years in prison. The sentencing has provoked much condemnation in Europe, and rightly so. Thirty years for moving a box of pamphlets. Fifty for showing up at a protest wearing black. Legally, the concept of terrorism has been hollowed out since the 1990s by legislation that paves the way for massive sentences for relatively banal crimes like moving a box of pamphlets. Continue reading >>27 April 2026
Trump Derangement Syndrome or the Foolish Fear of Tyranny
Recently, a diagnosis has spread through American political commentary. Critics of the administration find themselves accused of suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS): an inability to identify or critically think about the actions of Donald Trump or his administration objectively. TDS is not the first term invented to pathologise the fear of tyranny. Tyrannophobia, the foolish fear of tyranny, has a longer history. Continue reading >>07 April 2026
Weaponizing Necessity
On March 30, 2026, reports indicated that the US would allow a Russian oil tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil to dock in Cuba, delivering much-needed fuel to an island that had faced an effective US oil blockade since January 29, 2026. The arrival underscored the severity of Cuba’s energy crisis, produced by a deliberate escalation of US economic coercion, using both sanctions and tariffs. As tools of economic warfare, tariffs operate as forms of state crime that produce systemic harm and human suffering in Cuba and across the region. Continue reading >>
0
14 March 2026
The Enduring Delusion of a War of Civilizations
The United States administration has offered various mutually inconsistent justifications for its war against Iran, from regime change to pressure from Israel to self-defence for the homeland. If the people of Iran are seen by the Trump administration as adversaries in a global battle of civilizations and as enduring enemies of our “way of life”, then international law will be a fallacy and war inevitable, if not desirable. Peaceful co-existence will be just a temporary modus vivendi. Continue reading >>
0
03 March 2026
International Law of Equals
The old, cherished post-war international legal order no longer exists. The stakes were clear even before the recent, blatantly illegal attack on Iran led by the United States and Israel. After attacking Venezuela in January, Donald Trump freely admitted that he was only interested in his own morality, not international law. Mark Carney and Emmanuel Macron articulated the antithesis to Trump in Davos. Both professed their commitment to a multilateral, rules-based order, placing predictability above high-handedness. Each vision has a history that can provide insight into the conditions for their success. Continue reading >>
0
16 February 2026
Peace by Chairman
Das Board of Peace, gegründet am Rande des Weltwirtschaftsforums in Davos, inszeniert sich als pragmatischer Gegenentwurf zu den Vereinten Nationen. 60 Staaten wurden zur Mitarbeit eingeladen, 21 erklärten ihre Bereitschaft zum Beitritt. In Europa überwog jedoch die Skepsis. In Deutschland ist diese Skepsis auch verfassungsrechtlich begründet: Das Board weist institutionelle Defizite auf, konzentriert Entscheidungsbefugnisse und ist nicht hinreichend an die Mitgliedstaaten rückgebunden. Continue reading >>04 February 2026
Why US Sovereign Bases in Greenland Would Violate International Law
As the New York Times reported, President Trump and NATO have reached the framework of a deal that would grant the US sovereign bases over territories of Greenland. One of the officials present at the negotiations compared the proposed bases to the British Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus. Establishing such bases constitutes a violation of international law and cannot validly be agreed to by Denmark or NATO. Continue reading >>
0