10 August 2025
The Texas Gambit
American politics at present is defined by the daily discarding of long-standing norms. The latest ignominy involves the brazen attempt, by the Republican leadership of the State of Texas, to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts to give the GOP control over an additional five seats; a move that, if successful, would raise the number of U.S. House seats held by Texas Republicans. What is unprecedented in the Texas situation is both the origin and timing of the attempted gerrymander, and the gaudy theatricality that has followed. Continue reading >>
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04 August 2025
Taxation Without Representation
What started as a trade war in 2018 – and a domestic policy aimed at recalibrating the U.S. trade policy – has quietly transformed into a tool of hidden taxation, enabling the U.S. executive branch, meaning the President of the United States, to raise revenue and dramatically influence fiscal policy without legislative consent or even minimal participation in the legislative process by Congress. This divergence from legal norms represents a constitutional rupture – what I call the rise of a shadow fiscal state: a parallel tax system designed and executed solely through executive discretion rather than transparency and congressional legislation. Continue reading >>
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01 August 2025
Tat und Territorium
Am 23. Juli 2025 wurde Sebastian Hotz alias „El Hotzo“ vom Amtsgericht Berlin-Tiergarten vom Vorwurf der Billigung von Straftaten, § 140 StGB, freigesprochen. Die Bedeutung des Falls erschöpft sich nicht in der bekannten Streitfrage um das Verhältnis von grundrechtlicher Meinungsfreiheit und strafrechtlichen Meinungsäußerungsdelikten. Tatsächlich wirft er noch ein anders gelagertes Problem auf: Kann das deutsche Strafrecht die Billigung einer Tat erfassen, die im Ausland begangen wurde? Dass § 140 StGB auch solche Anlasstaten erfassen kann, gilt als gefestigt. Diese Auslegung bricht aber mit dem historischen Sinn der Norm und weitet das Strafrecht in Bereiche aus, in denen es nichts zu suchen hat. Continue reading >>31 July 2025
Der Preis der Deeskalation
Mitten in einer transatlantischen Zollschlacht hat die Europäische Union einem US-Handelsdiktat zugestimmt, das einen drohenden Handelskrieg abwendet – und zugleich fundamentale verfassungsrechtliche Fragen aufwirft. Hat Brüssel aus Notwendigkeit seine Prinzipien preisgegeben? Oder beweist der Deal die bemerkenswerte Elastizität des EU-Verfassungsraums unter äußerem Zwang? Zwar schafft das Abkommen kurzfristig Stabilität, langfristig aber lotet es die Grenzen von Kompetenzen, Demokratie und Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der EU aus – eine Gratwanderung zwischen Souveränität und Submission. Continue reading >>28 July 2025
Bullying Universities
David Pozen at Columbia University calls Columbia University’s new agreement with the federal government “regulation by deal”. Of course, Columbia should have learned by now that making a deal does not mean that the pressure stops. Appeasing a bully only empowers the bully – and he will be back for more. Regulation by deal, precisely because it bypasses general lawmaking procedures, leaves open the possibility that any deal can be supplemented with even more demands in the future. It can provide no legal guarantees of security. Continue reading >>
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14 July 2025
Starlink, the Cloud, and Corporate Dependency
The Trump Administration has repeatedly pushed for the adoption or licensing of Elon Musk’s satellite company Starlink in trade negotiations. But as Musk’s strategic use of his satellite service reveals, corporate control over critical infrastructure inevitably translates into political power. Power that companies may wield in alignment with, or in opposition to, state interests. The solution, however, may not lie in stronger state oversight alone, but in democratizing corporations themselves. Continue reading >>
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02 July 2025
Academic Freedom Mugged
The forced resignation of James Ryan from the presidency of the University of Virginia by pressure from a politically motivated U.S. Department of Justice, abetted by his opponents within the school, deals a dangerous blow to institutional academic freedom both at UVA and at every public university. Of course, universities must abide by federal civil rights laws as interpreted by courts. But Ryan’s antagonists pursue a radical reorientation of higher education away from most forms of increasing opportunities for disadvantaged students. Continue reading >>
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28 June 2025
U.S. Attacks on Iran
Israel and the United States attacked Iran in mid-June 2025 with the aim of ending its nuclear program. Iran counter-attacked. While some world leaders justified what Israel and the U.S. were doing, they did so in line with political deterrence theory, not the plain terms of the United Nations Charter. The lawful use of force in self-defense depends on an armed attack occurring. Concerns over nuclear weapons are to be resolved through treaties and negotiations. Honoring deterrence theory over the law is undermining the surest path to peace. Continue reading >>26 June 2025
The Return of Golden Shares and Global Politics
The Trump Administration just announced that the Japanese steel giant Nippon Steel has granted it a powerful “golden share” in U.S. Steel as a condition for its acquisition of this major US-American steel manufacturer. While the EU has largely constrained the use of such instruments under internal market law, the US now appears willing to deploy them as symbols of industrial revival and national strength. In its response to the increasing global (geo)economic competition, the EU and its member states should resist this trend and instead refine targeted FDI screening mechanisms to reconcile national security with internal market integrity. Continue reading >>
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12 June 2025