When US Vice-President Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket, the party’s operatives believed they had engineered the perfect formula for victory. Biden, after all, had become a symbol of age and frailty, his presidency increasingly defined by his gaffes and lack of vigour. Harris, with her historic nomination and ability to galvanise … Read more
For years, Palestinian and non-Palestinian advocates and legal experts have argued that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories (OPT), which includes the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, is illegal. On 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an Advisory Opinion (AdvOp) effectively concurring in that assessment and calling upon … Read more
Implications for the United Kingdom and Cyprus On 2 September 2024, the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Lammy faced a series of questions in Parliament on the UK’s arms and surveillance support to Israel through its military bases in Cyprus. Referring to the recent decisions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ or Court), the … Read more
Revisiting the distinction between jus ad bellum and jus in bello The fundamental distinction between jus ad bellum and jus in bello – described as “perhaps the most important principle of IHL” – is a vital bulwark against attempts to override International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by appealing to jus ad bellum considerations. It is at … Read more
Do European fiscal rules make it easier for governments to “sell” spending cuts to their voters? Drawing on a survey experiment in Italy, Alessia Aspide finds such rules have little impact on domestic support for austerity policies. The NextGenerationEU initiative, launched amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with its focus on investments, represented a ground-breaking departure from … Read more
