Author Archives: Ryan Scoville

The South China Sea Arbitration: Implications for the Senkaku Islands

Posted on July 18, 2016

One of the big takeaways from the South China Sea arbitration is that the high-tide features in the Spratly Islands are mere “rocks” under Article 121(3) of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea because they “cannot sustain … Continue reading →

Posted in International Law, Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands, 尖閣諸島 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How Cosmopolitan Are International Law Professors?

Posted on April 22, 2016

Milan Markovic (Texas A&M) and I just posted a new piece about U.S. professors of international law. Here’s the abstract: This Article offers an empirical answer to a question of interest among scholars of comparative international law: why do American views … Continue reading →

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New Article on International Legal Education

Posted on March 8, 2016

I recently posted a draft of a new article on international legal education. The article examines the curriculum of virtually every law school in the world in order to identify global trends in the teaching of international law, and then theorizes … Continue reading →

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International Law from a Cuban Perspective

Posted on February 7, 2016

Recently I returned from a trip to Cuba, where I had the opportunity to interview Celeste Pino Canales, a highly regarded professor of public international law at the University of Havana. I pursued the interview for a couple of reasons. … Continue reading →

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New Data on Incursions into Waters Surrounding the Senkaku Islands

Posted on November 5, 2015

The Japanese Coast Guard just released some new data on the “numbers of Chinese government and other vessels that entered Japan’s contiguous zone or intruded into [the] territorial sea surrounding the Senkaku Islands.” Here they are: I see two noteworthy trends: … Continue reading →

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New Article on Customary International Law

Posted on September 16, 2015

I just posted a draft of a new article that studies citations in published judicial opinions to evaluate how federal courts go about ascertaining customary international law. For those interested, it’s forthcoming in the Iowa Law Review and available here.

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Legislative Diplomacy After Zivotofsky

Posted on June 15, 2015

Zivotofsky was a case about the recognition power, but it was also the first in quite a while to offer any insight into the Justices’ views on the nature of the President’s power to communicate with foreign sovereigns. Given precedents like Curtiss-Wright, … Continue reading →

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