From the New York Law Journal:
Trump, trade and national security
“The last major trade war was launched by two Republican lawmakers, Smoot and Hawley, in the 1930s, spurring the Great Depression and World War II. It also ended the reign of Republican presidents with the election of President Roosevelt and his new era of reciprocal trade agreements.”
Let the fireworks begin.
Professor Stuart Malawer
From World Politics Review:
How the Fate of the Iran Deal Could Affect Talks with North Korea
Uncertainty about the reliability of the U.S. as a negotiating partner under Trump may push Iran and North Korea to decide that their programs, for better or worse, are still a useful deterrent and provide them some power in the international system. But would these prickly, insecure regimes have given up more, if offered a more enduring American commitment to recognition and normalization?
Professor Ellen Laipson, director of the Master’s in International Security program
From War on the Rocks:
Will new international effort to stop chemical attacks in Syria succeed?
“While chemical weapons have so far accounted for only a fraction of the deaths and casualties inflicted by the Syrian civil war, they have the potential to cause far greater destruction if the Assad regime uses them on a larger scale. The longer the regime can use chemical weapons without facing serious consequences, the greater the risk it will escalate these attacks and the weaker the restraints on other states from adopting similar tactics. Stopping the use of these weapons is both a nonproliferation necessity and a humanitarian imperative.”
Associate Professor Gregory Koblentz, director of the Biodefense Graduate Programs
From North American Congress on Latin America:
A Genocide and the Pursuit of Justice
The delays that characterized the genocide trial illustrate the backroom influence that Guatemalan military elites continue to wield over the country’s judicial and political institutions. Guatemala has been trying to dismantle these kinds of parallel power structures via organisms like the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a UN-backed body that works closely with the Attorney General’s Office in investigating high-level corruption cases. Still, given the power that shadowy special interest groups made up of ex-military and intelligence officers continue to wield in Guatemala, the fact that [former dictator José Efraín] Ríos Montt was put on trial at all was an incredible accomplishment.
Associate Professor Jo-Marie Burt and Paulo Estrada