“When they come by land we’re going to be stopping them the same way we stopped the boats.” The President of the United States threatening to use force on another state’s territory to summarily execute people of suspected crimes. —Adding a violation of the UN Charter to the mix.

"The MAGA assault on the Fed poses the awkward but important question: What kind of central bank should we want for America? A sensible discussion about that question cannot start from political innocence. How we generate credit and money will always be political." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/o...

Critique need not propose, but it must orient. Otherwise it’s just noise.

Conor Gearty was, without hesitation, the best academic writer I’ve read. He was also a thoroughly decent and kind human being who fearlessly used his position speak truth to power. Conor did law, politics and academia the right way and he will be sorely missed. Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.

this is truly terrible news. a great scholar and thinker who used his voice and academic standing for all the right causes.

I v much enjoyed reading this provocative and important indictment of 'contributionism' in the historiography of international law in Latin America by M. Díaz Chalela and @samuelmoyn.bsky.social. academic.oup.com/edited-volum...

This week, despite Venezuela's 2012 denunciation of the American Convention, the IACtHR held that Venezuela remains bound. Why? Because Guaidó re-ratified the Convention, retroactive to 2013, in 2019. The catch? Maduro was incumbent before and after Guaidó, and, arguably, during Guaidó. Read👇

Maduro, Guaidó, and the Two-Government Paradox in Chirinos Salamanca v Venezuela | by Francisco J. Quintana and Justina Uriburu

Waiting for the liberal IR monograph explaining how emperors make their horses senators assuming they can control them but then discovering that horses often socialise into norm entrepreneurs.

Given Judge Sebutinde has years of her term left, this would be the right move by the other court members - it’s clear that there can be no impartiality in future proceedings

☁️ South America’s sovereignty is being lost in Big Tech’s cloud IIPP Prof. @ceciliarikap.bsky.social calls for South American governments to stand up to #BigTech firms extracting data, knowledge and natural resources from the region. ✍️ Read her new @opendemocracy.net article here: buff.ly/9UFbU8L

Just back from the LASIL (SLADI) Biennial in Montevideo, where ~100 scholars met for three days of rich, honest debate on international law, politics, and Latin America’s role in the world. Grateful to co-organise with amazing colleagues. See you in Mexico City 2027!

There is a risk of thinking that because so much of Trump's trade talk is just diplomacy theatre that it doesn't matter much. But I got another lesson last week about why even posturing on trade matters last week--from my kid's orthodontist 1/4

Preliminary EU-US trade deal reached. It sets a 15 percent tariff on most E.U. goods, including cars Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07...

I'm delighted to be heading to Brasília 🇧🇷 for @icon-s.bsky.social 2025. I’ll be presenting my work on dollar dominance and de-dollarisation in a panel discussion with B. Kingsbury, D. Petrova, and A. Rodiles. If you're around and would like to meet up for a coffee, do reach out!

King's 'Maradona theory of interest rates': By duping defenders into thinking he would change direction, Maradona scored without having to do so. Central banks can guide expectations of future interest rates so that inflation targets can be met without big changes. www.economist.com/finance-and-...

There is, undoubtedly, much to say about the ICJ’s landmark advisory opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change. In this post, Julian and I begin by unpacking the Court’s treatment of the sources of international law governing climate change and how those sources interact.

ICJ opinion says states are legally obligated to tackle climate change

ICJ Advisory Opinion on climate change:

A fair question. It could be a make-or-break moment for the Court. I'm critical of grandiose yet ultimately apolitical judgments (see IACtHR). But if the ICJ had not even tried to jolt states out of complacency on something as vital as climate change, what, then, would make it so worth preserving?

Jaime Torres Bodet was a Mexican writer, diplomat and university professor who served as the second Director-General of UNESCO (1948-1952). His writings express a bygone era when international law and diplomacy functioned as ambitious languages and practices of worldmaking in and from Latin America.

After some humming and hahing, I set up a Substack. Will be writing about intl law, the field, writing, teaching, the university, and more. Subscribe/share if you're interested (or, as I still am, mildly amused): substack.com/@intlegalcra...

Happy to see this seminal work—one that has deeply shaped my work—now available in English translation. Highly recommended for anyone interested in social action during crises & in social / field theory more broadly! Sociology of Political Crisis, Michel Dobry 🔗 www.bloomsbury.com/uk/sociology...

In many countries (e.g., the US), the rule is: if you won't tip, don't dine out. Likewise, if you won't peer review, don't submit to peer-reviewed journals.

"When investors are worried, they seek out assets that they are confident will hold value during turmoil. But worries about the dollar have weakened it further, even during volatile conditions, suggesting that it is not playing the same haven role for investors." www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/b...

The move away from the dollar (particularly in Asia) keeps gaining momentum. One might call this... an ongoing de-dollarisation.

My latest, in @nytimes.com: The Danger of an Unrestrained President to the World www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/o...

International law is very brief on the point: US attack is illegal, a patent act of aggression. Any support from other States is illegal.

I’m pleased to share the programme for SLADI 2025, the upcoming Biennial Conference of the Latin American Society of International Law. SLADI will once again offer a vital and genuinely horizontal platform to rethink international law in – and from – Latin America. drive.google.com/file/d/1mdMB...

Happy to share my first piece in @opiniojuris.bsky.social on "Settler Tourism in #WesternSahara and the Commodification of Occupied Territories", where I take aim at @ryanairofficial.bsky.social & others and draw comparisons with Trump's plans for Palestine as Riviera opiniojuris.org/2025/05/23/d...

In This Issue | by @fjquintana.com

A brilliant discussion in an ideal setting — such a privilege to have arrived in Budapest in time. In his Pulitzer-winning book, Benjamin Nathans draws on diaries, memoirs, letters, interviews, and KGB interrogation records to show how dissidents invoked Soviet law to contain Soviet state violence.

The workshop is over, everyone is relieved and hopefully regenerated. It was so nice to see everyone doing a great job, with so many interesting projects! It was a pleasure and privilege to host you and learn from all of you! And here are some more pics

Meeting friends and heroes at the EUI workshop “Shifting Powers, Shifting Roles: The Present and Future of International Institutions”. Brilliant keynote discussions by @monicahakimi.bsky.social, Tony Anghie, @sarahnou.bsky.social. Also a great setting to discuss de-dollarisation and int’l law!

I spoke to @theintercept.com about Google's self-avowed inability to conduct proper risk assessments and due diligence in a contract it concluded with Israel to provide cloud and machine-learning services: theintercept.com/2025/05/12/g...

I’m delighted to announce that, from July, I’ll join @uoelawschool.bsky.social as Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Global Law. I look forward to working with so many outstanding colleagues and contributing to the new LLB Global Law at one of the world’s leading law schools.

Brazil's stats agency just turned the world upside-down – literally. New map puts the Global South on top and Brazil in the spotlight, highlighting 'Brazil’s current leadership in ... BRICS and Mercosur, and its role as host of COP30'. valorinternational.globo.com/google/amp/p...

How can senior scholars still think it's a good move to argue that criticising the hierarchical, racialised violence of the international order overlooks Third World agency? It's almost as if they hadn't read the work of Third World agents!

Great workshop on 'The Juridification of Justice' @lauterpachtcentre.bsky.social (@torkrever.bsky.social & @norajaber.bsky.social). I argued that our concern should not be the degree to which justice becomes 'juridified', but which 'jus' –which understanding of law– guides our visions of justice.

Double standards are pervasive in international politics but a serious challenge to international law - a challenge we try to understand in this conference - organized by @pilabuda.bsky.social and David Hughes, with a stellar cast. @gvagrad-law.bsky.social www.graduateinstitute.ch/communicatio...

Legendary jurists Georges Abi-Saab and Marcelo Kohen ask: "(I) What is the legal basis for the claim that military occupation must be temporary in nature? (II) What legal or factual elements indicate that such temporariness has ceased?" www.ejiltalk.org/is-prolonged...

Buona Festa della Liberazione!

Today is a very sad day. Pope Francis was a hero. I hope his legacy will be better understood and even more influential from today onwards. He was a tireless advocate “for migrants, the marginalised and the health of the planet”. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/w...

Todays big international law news, that seems to be buried in the back pages. This pandemic treaty now needs to be adopted at the World Health Assembky in May. #PandemicAccord www.bbc.com/news/article...

CELAC se rearma en Honduras | Propuso una mayor articulación económica y cooperación política  - www.pagina12.com.ar/817302-celac...

"The real lesson of the episode wasn’t about trade at all, they say — it was about the toll that rapid economic changes can take on workers and communities — and by failing to understand that, Mr. Trump risks repeating the mistakes he claims he has vowed to correct." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/b...

Join us for a book launch with the author @quinnslobodian.com to discuss his latest book, 'Hayek’s Bastards: The Neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right' 🗓️ May 7th 📍 Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS ⏰ 12 noon to 1:30 PM Please register here: forms.office.com/e/0F7RF8cKxk

Inspired by calls to reimagine the space currently populated by international criminal law, Meg deGuzman's and my essay engages in feminist dreaming—that is, seeks to reimagine accountability as it could be, viewed through a feminist lens. Now up @ssrn.bsky.social: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

"What is really happening here is an attack on the American faith in knowledge as a value and a public good that has served us well." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/o...