Fall 2005:
Stop the Genocide in Darfur: Bribe the Chinese
Posted November 14,2005: You have to give the Bush administration’ s deputy
secretary of state Robert B. Zoellick credit: he certainly
appears to be doing the best he can to stop the genocidal
violence in Sudan’ s Darfur region. He has been to the area
four times in six months and, as was reported this week,
has met with the President of Sudan as well as with the
warring rebel factions. He has been ‘ fact finding’ in the
refugee camps, he has listened to the African Union’ s peacekeeping
commanders describe what is happening and he has listened
to what the government officials responsible for the region
have had to say. Listening and fact finding are crucial
elements of diplomatic intervention and Zoellick is by all
accounts a skilled and honest negotiator and deal-maker.
But the violence continues; men, women and children are
being senselessly murdered everyday by the so-called “janjaweed,”
Sudanese government sponsored militia on horseback, and
no amount of political discourse appears likely to bring
these rampaging cowboys (janjaweed means ‘ gun and horse’
) to heel.
ATTENTION 2Ls – WANT TO WORK IN EUROPE NEXT SUMMER (2006) ???
Students who study at the University of Metz (France) this spring will be automatically matched with an internship in Europe. The spring semester at Metz starts Monday February 13, 2006 and ends on June 3, 2006. Internship lengths are negotiable and may include stipends and housing. The three courses (9 credits total) to be offered in English are Comparative Intellectual Property Law, European Union Law, and Comparative Constitutional Law. If you are interested please contact Dean Lazar immediately as the program will not be offered if there are not enough students signed up! llazar@kentlaw.edu room 320B 312-906-512
Why Study Law in the Heart of the Empire?
Posted October 17,2005: To some people, 'law' is a set of rules designed
by the powerful to entrench their power, while for
others it is a set of rules designed by an enlightened
elite to create a level playing field where people
can compete to the best of their ability to make money.
Still others see the law as an evolving set of rules
that reflect communal efforts to live together harmoniously.
Finally, many view the law as morality codified, arguing
that we criminalize behavior we determine to be ethically
injurious to the society as a whole. Whatever your
view of the law, and of course many believe it is
some combination of the above explanations, if you
decide to study the law of country other than your
own you will enrich and expand your understanding
of your own legal system and gain invaluable cross
cultural experience that will help you no matter what
you decide to do when you finally leave the student
life and enter the working world.
Silver Lining in Iraq and Katrina Debacles?
Posted September
27,2005: Even as we uncover the full magnitude
of the federal and local government failures in preparing
for and responding to Katrina, we must keep our attention
focused on the administration's rapid enlistment of
private entities to solve problems not only in Louisiana
but also in Iraq. As the New York Times and others
are now reporting, the normal safeguards against price
gouging on bids for government work are not working
due to the exigency of the situation(s), the political
opportunism of the Bush administration and its particular
form of crony capitalism, and the unsurprisingly voracious
appetite of private businesses to profit at the expense
of the American taxpayer.
"How do you spell relief"
Posted September 05,2005: When disaster strikes, those who are affected do
whatever they can to survive. Those who are not immediately
affected have a choice – they can involve themselves in
some way with the relief effort or they can go on with their
lives. Here in the US, right now, a disaster has struck
the communities around New Orleans, and as the nation responds
with help of all sorts – from immediate search and rescue
operations using both private and official boats, to organized
bus caravans to take refugees from the compromised New Orleans
Superdome to the Houston Astrodome, to the provision of
emergency supplies – we see how critically interdependent
we truly are, and, paradoxically, how fortunate.
Call for Debators: October Webcast Opportunity
Posted August 29,2005: Chicago-Kent has agreed to participate in a debate
on the pros and cons of particular provisions of the Patriot
Act. The debate will take place in mid-October and is to
be webcast. The other debators will be from Loyola and John
Marshall. The event is sponsored by the National Strategy
Forum. Students interested in participating will be given
academic and debating support by faculty. If this sounds
like an opportunity that you are interested in, please contact
Dean Lazar immediately so that we can put our team together!
In Search of Pro Americanism?
Posted August 22,2005: The press has lately been full of stories decrying
the loss of good will that the United States has suffered
around the world, and bemoaning the decline in "pro Americanism"
since the high point immediately after September 11, 2001.
Indeed, a recent poll conducted by the University of Maryland
and an outside polling firm provides evidence that public
opinion around the world is starting to assume a new, 21st
century configuration that reflects an increase in respect
and admiration for European and Chinese influence in global
affairs and, presumably, a decrease in admiration of the
United States.
Surprise: Bush Administration Joins Anti-Nafta Movement!
Posted August 15,2005: Last week, having lost its case at the Extraordinary
Challenge Committee (an official tribunal established as
part of Nafta's dispute resolution process), the Bush Administration
slapped Canada in the face and appeared to abrogate its
obligations under Nafta when it asserted that, after years
of litigation over alleged Canadian subsidization of timber
sales into the US, it now preferred a "negotiated solution"
to the controversy. Understandably, the Canadians are upset,
since the US has forced their timber exporters to pay $5
billion in extra import duties while the controversy has
wound its way through the official Nafta dispute resolution
mechanism of high level consultations, bi-national review
panels and a presumably final appeal to the Extraordinary
Challenge Committee.
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