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 >>
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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
Power, Profit, and Washington’s Paradox
The Trump administration has been accused of corruptly placing private financial benefit above the public interest, most recently in President Trump’s acceptance of the gift of a Boeing 747 from Qatar for his use as Air Force 1, and invitations to dinner at a private club and to a private White House tour, offered as perks for those who invested substantial sums in his Stablecoin. Although, here, the President’s self-enrichment is blatant, more troubling are his policies aimed at dismantling safeguards against corruption at home and abroad. These reveal a deep contradiction in the warring goals of those currently governing in Washington; a contradiction that may eventually burst into the open. Continue reading >>
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07 June 2025
U.S. Sanctions on the International Criminal Court
Since the negotiation of the Rome Statute, U.S. relations with the Court have zig-zagged between quiet support and open hostility. With President Trump’s return to office, we are back to confrontation. On June 5, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made sanction designations of four ICC judges – two of whom authorized the investigation into Afghanistan and two of whom approved the Netanyahu and Gallant arrest warrants. This post describes these developments and situates them within the broader context of U.S.-ICC relations. Continue reading >>
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06 June 2025
Using Immigration Court as a Trap
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun apprehending noncitizens at immigration court – where individuals appear to seek humanitarian relief or defend against deportation – immediately after the government moves to dismiss their case. Immigrants and their attorneys are increasingly reporting that ICE, in coordination with government lawyers, is detaining individuals as they exit court following such dismissals. Rather than providing a reprieve, dismissal is now being used to facilitate detention and potentially summary deportation, raising serious concerns about due process and adherence to governing statutes in the United States. Continue reading >>
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03 June 2025
Trump’s Threat to Nonprofits
The administration of President Trump is threatening nonprofits with the loss of tax-exempt status in an attempt to force them to conform their activities to policies favored by that administration. The threats are based on shaky legal grounds, and nonprofits have both constitutional and statutory bases for countering them. Nevertheless, these threats are significant, especially when combined with the administration’s efforts to cut government funding for many programs operated by nonprofits. And at the same time, the U.S. Congress is considering reducing the benefits of tax-exempt status in many ways, primarily to help pay for tax cuts benefitting wealthy individuals and corporations. Continue reading >>
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22 May 2025
Fasten für den Überfluss?
In den Vereinigten Staaten haben die Journalisten Ezra Klein und Derek Thompson mit ihrem Buch „Abundance“ eine Kritik des gegenwärtigen amerikanischen Verwaltungsstaats vorgelegt. Während Elon Musks DOGE am Rückbau der Bundesverwaltung arbeitet, wollen die beiden Journalisten sie neu aufstellen. Sie werben dafür, linke Politik, konkret der Demokratischen Partei, auf den titelgebenden Überfluss auszurichten: mehr Wohnen, mehr Energie, mehr öffentliche Forschung. Schon weil wir in der Bundesrepublik ähnliche Probleme, aber keine vergleichbare Methodenkritik haben, lohnt ein Blick nach Übersee. Continue reading >>13 May 2025
Wenn Wissensquellen versiegen
Die ersten 100 Tage von Trumps zweiter Amtszeit wirken sich nicht nur drastisch auf den Welthandel und die liberale Weltordnung aus – sondern auch auf Asylverfahren in Deutschland. Vor allem das Defunding von Entwicklungszusammenarbeit verändert die Informationslage zu asylrelevanten Herkunftsländern radikal: Etablierte Quellen von Herkunftslandinformationen verschwinden, das Verständnis von zentralen Konzepten (wie Terrorismus) wandelt sich und die Informationslage wird noch volatiler. Dies stellt deutsche Gerichte bei der Tatsachenaufklärung in Asylverfahren vor neue Herausforderungen. Continue reading >>
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11 April 2025
The U.S. President’s Electoral Power Play
On March 25, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) purporting to restructure American election administration. The ironically titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections” EO sets out to, among other things, require those registering to vote in federal elections to present documentary proof of citizenship, and threatens to penalize states that accept late arriving ballots (i.e., mail ballots that are sent prior to, yet not received until after, Election Day). The EO has several legal deficiencies and much of it should be invalidated by the federal judiciary. Continue reading >>
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28 March 2025
Wie die Trump-Regierung Wissensinstitutionen angreift
Zeit für Mut – und Widerstand Continue reading >>
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