The De Minimis Exception: A Not-So-Minimal Loophole to Trade Policy
Introduction American consumers are increasingly aware of the abysmal working conditions attached to some of the most prominent brands in the fashion market. Over the past decade, popular brand names like Nike, Shein, and H&M have been criticized for their use of...
Transitional Justice
Introduction When exploring solutions to an armed conflict and a history of human rights violations, one can usually think of bringing cases before a tribunal to find those responsible and hold them accountable. However, it is not that easy. Policymakers must also...
State Department Resistance to the Congressional Investigation into the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
In April 2021, President Biden announced that the United States would unilaterally withdraw from Afghanistan. Although the war in Afghanistan was deeply unpopular by that point, the withdrawal itself generated controversy. A few months later, in July of 2021, just one...
Not Quite A Crisis: How the WTO Has Adapted to a Failing Dispute Resolution System
The dispute resolution process of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) has been on life support since 2019 when the Trump administration blocked the appointment of appellate members, shutting down the appellate process in the WTO’s dispute resolution system. This has...
Two Big Two Fail: A Second International Banking Crisis May Be Upon Us
On March 16, 2023, Switzerland’s second largest investment bank, Credit Suisse, announced their request for a loan of fifty billion Swiss Francs ($54 billion USD) to boost their liquidity. This request came less than a week after regulators closed United States-based...
Second Time’s the Charm? How the Windsor Framework Changes the Post-Brexit Rules in Northern Ireland
On February 27, 2023, the United Kingdom and European Union announced that they had reached an agreement – the Windsor Framework – to further clarify the status of Northern Ireland post-Brexit. The Windsor Framework builds on 2021’s Northern Ireland Protocol to...
Hungary: Permanently Ruling by Emergency Degree
On May 22, 2022, Hungary declared a state of emergency in response to the “emergency” posed by armed conflict in Ukraine and Russian aggression. This is the latest in a string of state of emergency declarations that allowed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to continue...
Exporting Mercenaries as Foreign Policy: Russia’s Use of Wagner Group in Africa
Introduction Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the emergence of the United States of America as the sole remaining superpower, Russia under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin has aggressively sought to reassert Russian influence on the...
Accountability for Russia’s Detention and Deportation Program
On March 17, 2023 the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) issued arrest warrants for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, as well as Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President. The ICC issued the arrest...
The Future of Foreign Sovereign Immunity: Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States
Introduction On January 17, 2023, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a highly anticipated case, Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., aka Halkbank v. United States, that may have a profound impact on the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). In 1976, the FSIA codified...