Author Archives: Ryan Scoville

Syria and the Arms Trade Treaty

In this post, I want to evaluate the link between two contemporary foreign policy issues that are generally viewed as unrelated. The first is ongoing U.S. military assistance to Syrian rebels. As Reuters reported last week, the United States is … Continue reading

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The Drafting History of the Treaty of Shimononseki

One of the many contested issues in the sovereignty dispute over the Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands is whether China ceded title to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki. In this post, I’ll briefly explain the competing textual arguments under the … Continue reading

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New Article on the Diplomacy Powers of Congress

I’m happy to report that I have a new piece out in the Michigan Law Review. It’s entitled “Legislative Diplomacy” and provides an empirical and theoretical analysis on the extent to which Congress has constitutional authority to engage in international diplomacy. … Continue reading

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Why China’s New ADIZ Has No Legal Significance

There’s been an avalanche of news on the East China Sea over the past week. As I discussed in my previous post, China recently announced a new Air Defense Identification Zone (“ADIZ”), thereby requiring foreign aircraft flying over the Sea … Continue reading

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China’s New Air Defense Identification Zone

Three days ago China’s Ministry of National Defense established an Air Defense Identification Zone (“ADIZ”) for the East China Sea. According to the announcement, foreign aircraft operating within the ADIZ will be subject to a couple of requirements: First, they … Continue reading

Posted in International Law, Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands, 尖閣諸島 | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Data on Congressional Foreign Travel

If you’d like to know about some of your representative’s or senator’s foreign travel habits, you can find out at the link below. The link will download a spreadsheet containing data on all congressional foreign travel for 2009, which is … Continue reading

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Video: Chemical Weapons in International Law

I recently appeared on International Focus, a local public television program that covers current events in international affairs. The host and I talked about legal issues related to the use of chemical weapons, including historical efforts to prohibit use, some of … Continue reading

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UN Immunity in the Haitian Cholera Litigation

Two days ago, victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti filed a class action in the Southern District of New York against the United Nations, the UN Secretary-General, and the former head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (“MINUSTAH”). … Continue reading

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The U.S. also Violates an International Norm Against Chemical Weapons

Lost in the ongoing debate about Syria is a rather startling irony: while the Administration argues that intervention is necessary to enforce global norms against chemical weapons, the United States stands in material breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the … Continue reading

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Evidentiary Problems in Congressional Foreign Policymaking

Here’s an interesting news item: The Administration is reportedly preparing to bring military and political leaders of the Syrian rebels to Washington so that they can lobby Congress to approve U.S. military intervention against Assad. I mention this because it … Continue reading

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