15 May 2026
“Once the Lawyers Move In, You Know the Problem Is Serious”
Last July, the International Court of Justice delivered its unanimous advisory opinion on climate change – and it was unambiguous. Climate obligations are legal, substantive, and enforceable. Eighteen months after we first spoke with Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Tejas Rao and Markus Gehring from the University of Cambridge about the then-upcoming opinion, we asked them to take stock of what has actually changed: in courts, in multilateral diplomacy, and in the growing coalition of states willing to move ahead without waiting for the holdouts. Continue reading >>
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15 May 2026
„Wenn die Juristen kommen, wird es ernst“
Letzten Juli hat der Internationale Gerichtshof sein Gutachten zum Klimawandel vorgelegt – und es war eindeutig: Klimaschutzverpflichtungen sind rechtlich verbindlich und durchsetzbar. Anderthalb Jahre nachdem wir erstmals mit Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Tejas Rao und Markus Gehring von der Universität Cambridge über das damals bevorstehende Gutachten gesprochen hatten, haben wir nachgefragt: Was hat das Gutachten tatsächlich verändert? Und wie steht es um die globale Klimagovernance? Continue reading >>09 April 2026
Three Lessons from the UN Declaration on Enslavement
On 25 March 2026, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, led by African and Caribbean states, the Declaration on the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity. The Declaration can be read as operating within the language of foundational instruments of international law while simultaneously pushing their limits through a set of decisive doctrinal moves. Seen in this light, the Declaration offers at least three lessons for international law today. Continue reading >>
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17 March 2026
Condemning the Counterstrike Without the Cause
On 12 March 2026, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution condemning Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Gulf states and Jordan, declaring them a “breach of international law and a serious threat to international peace and security.” While the resolution is silent on the ongoing US-Israeli bombing campaign, the larger problem is structural. Under the ius ad bellum framework the resolution purports to apply, the lawfulness of a use of force cannot be assessed in isolation from the use of force that preceded it. Continue reading >>
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05 March 2026
Forays Into Reality
For decades, xenophobia has been relegated to the margins of the UN treaty body system: it was routinely invoked alongside racism but rarely treated as a legal problem in its own right. On February 3, two UN treaty bodies issued two joint interpretative comments on eradicating xenophobia against migrants and others perceived as such. For all their efforts, they dodge the all-important structural tension arising from migration governance: xenophobia is embedded in an international system that recognises the sovereign impulse to police migration not only as a (much critiqued) prerogative but, crucially, as a legitimate objective. Continue reading >>
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23 February 2026
The European Commission at the Board of Peace
Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica attended the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace (BoP) in Washington. Her presence triggered significant criticism from several Member States and European Parliament groups, considering that she did not have a mandate to take part in such a politically contested initiative. The European Commission, on the other hand, defended her participation on the ground that the EU has a direct interest in the reconstruction of Gaza. Given the questions surrounding the compatibility of the BoP Charter with the EU’s constitutional principles, the Commission’s unilateral action is difficult to defend. Continue reading >>
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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 >>16 January 2026
„Die NATO wäre tot“
Alles andere als eine US-Kontrolle über Grönland sei „inakzeptabel“. Mit diesen Worten hat Donald Trump diese Woche Sorgen vor einer US-Annexion Grönlands weiter geschürt. Während europäische Regierungen Dänemark ihre Unterstützung und Solidarität versichern, ist schon jetzt eines klar: Sollten die USA Grönland tatsächlich annektieren, wäre nichts mehr wie zuvor. Wir haben mit Marko Milanović darüber gesprochen, wie das Völkerrecht auf ein solches Szenario reagieren könnte – und was eine Annexion Grönlands für die Zukunft der NATO bedeuten würde. Continue reading >>16 January 2026
“NATO Would Be Dead”
“Anything less” than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable.” With those words this week, President Donald Trump reignited fears that a U.S. annexation of Greenland could move from rhetoric to reality. As European governments move to reassure Denmark of their support and solidarity, one thing is already clear: if the Greenland annexation scenario were to materialize, nothing would be the same again. We spoke with Marko Milanović about how international law would respond to such a scenario – and what a Greenland annexation would mean for the future of NATO. Continue reading >>
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14 January 2026