Volume 131 - Number 3 - Fall 2016
Decision Making in Using Assassinations in International Relations Warner R. Schilling and JONATHAN L. SCHILLING analyze how leaders weigh the costs and benefits of using assassination to advance their foreign policy interests. They conclude that the decision-making process is prone to bias, especially when dependent on the identity of the likely successor.
Volume 130 - Number 4 - Winter 2015-16
Did Chirac Say ‘Non ’? Revisiting UN Diplomacy on Iraq, 2002-03 Stefano Recchia revisits the George W. Bush administration’s attempt in the spring of 2003 to secure UN approval for the Iraq war. Drawing on new evidence from declassified documents and interviews with senior officials, he argues that the administration would have stood a good chance of securing UN approval—notwithstanding French opposition. But the administration had to be willing to postpone the start of military operations by up to six weeks and endorse a set of demanding benchmarks for Iraqi compliance, as proposed by Britain and several nonpermanent members of the Security Council.
Volume 130 - Number 3 - Fall 2015
Saint or Sinner? Human Rights and U.S. Support for the Arms Trade Treaty JENNIFER L. ERICKSON analyses the U.S. decision to support the UN Arms Trade Treaty initiative in October 2009. She argues that this support was part of a broader policy shift toward multilateralism that the Obama administration made in an effort to repair the reputation of the United States within the diplomatic community.
Volume 130 - Number 3 - Fall 2015
Is the Pentagon Papers Case Relevant in the Age of WikiLeaks? Bruce E. Altschuler revisits the Pentagon Papers case to determine its relevance in the internet age. He argues that the emergence of independent leakers with access to the internet has shifted greater responsibility on the mainstream media to practice self-restraint and to decide what to publish. The emergence of independent leakers has also accelerated prosecutions by the Obama administration.
Volume 127 - Number 4 - Winter 2012-2013
Suspension of Law during Crisis
Volume 127 - Number 2 - Summer 2012
The Demise of the PLO: Neither Diaspora nor Statehood Hillel Frisch analyzes the demise of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the withering of the Palestinian diaspora. Unfortunately for the Palestinians, the presumed virtues of globalization in facilitating diaspora are hardly a substitute for a mobilized homeland state, which seems unattainable.
Volume 126 - Number 4 - Winter 2011-12
The Influence of Magna Carta in Limiting Executive Power in the War on Terror Eric T. Kasper examines the use of Magna Carta by U.S. federal courts in enemy combatant cases. He traces the history of due process, jury trial, and habeas corpus rights within Magna Carta as well as subsequent legal documents and rulings in England and America. He concludes that Magna Carta is properly used by the federal courts as persuasive authority to limit executive power in the war on terror.
Volume 126 - Number 2 - Summer 2011
Judicial Supremacy or Judicial Defense? The Supreme Court and the Separation of Powers Katy J. Harriger argues that the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of the George W. Bush administration's policies on the trials of Guantanamo detainees should be understood within the context of separation-of-powers jurisprudence. During this time, the Court has asserted itself as the “referee” of the separation-of-powers system and has consistently defended judicial power, often at the expense of congressional and executive power.
Volume 126 - Number 2 - Summer 2011
The Drug War’s Impact on Executive Power, Judicial Reform, and Federalism in Mexico Juan D. Lindau examines the impact of the drug war on critical aspects of Mexican democratization, namely the expansion in the scope of certain features of executive power, judicial reform, and the construction of substantive federalism. He concludes that the drug war has increased the power of the least-transparent, least-accountable institutions tied to the executive branch. It has also preserved practices that impinge on civil and human rights, while complicating judicial reform and the deepening of federalism.
Volume 126 - Number 1 - Spring 2011
Nuclear Forensics: False Hopes and Practical Realities Richard Weitz looks at the international politics of nuclear forensics—a scientific technique that employs various investigatory methods to reveal the source and history of nuclear material. He worries that many governments and analysts underestimate the difficulties in constructing an effective nuclear forensics regime that can pinpoint those responsible for a nuclear incident and thus weakens the ability to deter by threatening nuclear retaliation.
