Why international law?

When debating a matter of international law with people (say, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict) they will often say “Well, international law is illegitamate / doesn’t matter / no one follows it / US law supersedes it / etc. so your appeals

Reflections on history

Given that today is the 20th anniversary of a pivotal event in history, perhaps some reflections on history are in order. But “optimism” is not the right word for it; neither is “pessimism”. Certainly, if we emphasise the world wars,

Rice's nonsense on torture

Oh wow, I only got around to watching this video now, and from some of the comments I thought she must have been making some half-convincing arguments… nope! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijEED_iviTA&feature=channel_page Well, first we upgrade al Qaeda to tyrants, okay. Then one

The Herd strikes again

These have been around for a while now, but still, songs about history, US foreign policy, and war, are always interesting. The first one in particular is one of the most educational music videos I’ve ever seen (read the headlines!).