Diplomacy and Law

Trump’s 50% tariffs on Canada rest on express authority under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, but domestic authorization does not settle their international legality. The measures raise serious questions under USMCA Article 2.4, GATT Articles I and II, and the security exceptions in both treaty systems.

International Criminal Law governs individual criminal responsibility for crimes under international law. This article explains its sources, historical development, core crimes, modes of liability, ICC jurisdiction, immunities, national prosecutions, and the limits of international criminal justice.

The Principle of Non-Intervention in International Law protects States against coercive interference in matters they are legally entitled to decide freely. This article examines its customary basis, the coercion test, leading ICJ cases, economic pressure, elections, and cyber operations.

Preparing for an international law exam requires more than memorizing cases and treaty provisions. A structured revision method helps candidates identify the relevant law, organize authorities, preserve key legal distinctions, and apply rules accurately under examination conditions.

International legal research depends on knowing which source can answer each legal question. This guide explains how to research treaty status, UN documents, judgments, state practice, customary law, and specialist databases using authoritative records and a verifiable research trail.

Who legally controls the Strait of Hormuz: Iran, Oman, the United States, or no single State? This article distinguishes territorial sovereignty, navigation rights, jurisdiction, sea control, and sea denial to explain how international law allocates authority over one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.

Serious international law study requires more than collecting textbooks and notes. This article explains how to combine primary sources, academic literature, structured study materials, and specialist resources for effective learning, revision, examination preparation, and legal research.

U.S. sanctions against ICC judges, prosecutors, and related actors have intensified the conflict between Washington and the International Criminal Court. This article examines Executive Order 14203, the ICC’s jurisdiction over nationals of nonparty states, and whether the sanctions comply with international law.

President Trump’s suggestion that the Strait of Hormuz could become U.S. territory raises a direct question of international law. This article examines who holds sovereignty over the Strait, the rules of transit passage, U.S. navigation rights, military control, and the legal limits on territorial acquisition.

International Security extends beyond war and military power. This article explains how security studies developed, how traditional, collective, non-traditional, and human security differ, and how deterrence, alliances, securitization, and security governance shape responses to threats.

Five years after the Taliban returned to power, Afghan women and girls face an increasingly institutionalized system of exclusion affecting education, employment, movement, health care, family life, and access to justice. This article examines the documented human rights violations under Taliban rule, Afghanistan’s obligations under CEDAW and other treaties, the ICC warrants concerning alleged ge…

Liberalism in International Relations explains how domestic politics, economic interdependence, democratic institutions, and international organizations can shape state behavior. This article examines its intellectual foundations, major theoretical strands, empirical claims, debate with realism, and the conditions under which liberal explanations of cooperation and international order are most pe…

Proxy wars allow states to influence armed conflicts through local intermediaries while limiting direct military involvement. This article explains how proxy relationships work, why sponsors and local actors cooperate, how Cold War and contemporary proxy conflicts differ, and why external support does not necessarily translate into political control.

The exclusive economic zone gives coastal states extensive rights over natural resources and specified activities without extending territorial sovereignty to 200 nautical miles. This article explains EEZ rights under UNCLOS, fisheries jurisdiction, navigation, offshore resources, islands, and maritime delimitation.

Balance of power is a central concept in international relations, describing how states respond to concentrations of power through military capabilities, alliances, deterrence, and alternative alignment strategies. This article examines its theoretical foundations, historical examples, limits, and relationship with the international legal order.

What constitutes a human rights violation under international law? This article examines the main types of Human Rights Violations, leading legal examples, state responsibility, international crimes, available remedies, and the UN mechanisms used to address serious abuses.

Foreign policy is the process through which states define external objectives and pursue them through diplomacy, economic statecraft, military power, and other instruments. This article explains how foreign policy is made, what shapes it, how national interests are defined, and how international law constrains state action.

Bashar al-Assad’s death sentence raises complex questions of criminal responsibility, legality, trial in absentia, capital punishment, head-of-state immunity, extradition from Russia, and international jurisdiction. This article examines what the Syrian judgment establishes, what remains legally uncertain, and how international law may shape future accountability.

The law of the sea regulates how states use, control, and share the oceans. This article explains UNCLOS, maritime zones, navigation rights, the exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, high seas, resource rights, and the settlement of maritime disputes.

Hezbollah Disarmament in Lebanon has moved from political negotiation toward possible international verification. This article examines the legal basis for foreign troops, Lebanon’s consent, UNIFIL’s mandate, Security Council authority, and the critical distinction between verifying disarmament and enforcing it by force.