Criminal Law
Essay,
Mar/Apr
2002
Truth commissions have become a favorite way for new democracies to exorcise the demons in their past. As their popularity has spread, however, so has the controversy. Are these commissions truly the best way to achieve justice in transitional societies -- or just a dodge that dictators use to escape accountability?
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Response,
Sep/Oct
2001
Henry Kissinger's criticisms of universal jurisdiction are misplaced and overblown. His alternative to a global "tyranny of judges" would mean impunity for the real tyrants.
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Essay,
Jul/Aug
2001
The passions aroused by the attempt to extradite Augusto Pinochet highlight the many unresolved issues in the movement to enforce global justice. Widespread agreement that human rights violations and crimes against humanity must be prosecuted has hindered active consideration of the proper role of international courts. Universal jurisdiction risks creating universal tyranny -- that of judges.
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Essay,
Sep/Oct
2000
The ever more litigious nature of American society is starting to affect an unexpected area: foreign policy. Increasing numbers of individuals, both American and foreign, are now using U.S. courts to defend their rights under international law in ways impossible just a few years ago. The plaintiffs range from Holocaust survivors to terrorist victims to the inhabitants of tropical rain forests; the defendants include multinational corporations, foreign officials, and even governments. On the one hand, the trend is bringing to justice many long thought unaccountable. On the other, it is making the tricky process of American diplomacy harder than ever.
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Review Essay,
Jan/Feb
1999
Aryeh Neier wants to try the planet's war criminals under international law. Martha Minow, rightly, is less keen. International law leads logically to world government.
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Comment,
Nov/Dec
1998
U.S. negotiators at the International Criminal Court conference in Italy missed their chance. Washington cannot accept the court as is. Now what?
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Comment,
Sep/Oct
1998
Corruption does no one any favors. After long pretending that graft was a necessary evil -- or just plain necessary -- governments rich and poor are trying to stamp it out.
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Essay,
Summer
1986
Terrorism poses important political and diplomatic challenges. It is designed to call attention, through the use of violence, to the causes espoused by terrorists, and to bring about changes in policy favorable to those causes. The United States and its allies--and all other affected nations--must deal with this threat to civilized order with all appropriate measures, ranging from diplomatic to military.
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