US President Donald Trump speaks during the Saudi-US investment forum at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center in Riyadh on May 13, 2025. FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, May 13, he will move to normalize relations with Syria and lift sanctions imposed on its new government to give the … Read more
A Philippine Senate probe has accused the Chinese embassy in Manila of funding a covert online influence campaign aimed at discrediting the country’s military and critics of Beijing ahead of midterm elections – prompting calls for diplomatic sanctions and potential criminal prosecution. If the allegations prove to be true, the operation – said to involve … Read more
Mar 22, 2025Ravie LakshmananFinancial Security / Cryptocurrency The U.S. Treasury Department has announced that it’s removing sanctions against Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer service that has been accused of aiding the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group to launder their ill-gotten proceeds. “Based on the Administration’s review of the novel legal and policy issues raised by use … Read more
We can witness in real time how the Trump administration is devastating international relations as well as the international legal order. Sanctions form an integral part of this disruptive behaviour, as they attribute political and economic weight to the US’ foreign policy agendas (see e.g. here; here). One particular tool to maximize these aspired goals … Read more
While the international legal order as we know it seems to be tilting to a more anarchic mode, incremental changes to the UN system of collective security and specifically the UN Security Council are still materializing. In the year that Russia started the war against Ukraine, which resulted in the Council’s paralysis on many fronts, … Read more