Happy September, people!

How do you feel about fall approaching?

I am half sad and half happy as always at this time of the year. Summer is my absolute favorite season, I love the hot weather and oh how I will miss my summer wardrobe! 🙂 But then I am also eagerly waiting for ‘the season’ to begin and for things to re-accelerate.

We could call this one a Syria special issue since the news and world affairs blog posts were all about Syria this week. I found some really good analysis among them.

On world affairs:

Congratulations President Obama

This is about yesterday’s announcement on Lawfare by Jack Goldsmith. I picked this one, but you should check the rest of Lawfare posts to get the full picture. For me, I have ambivalent feelings. For one thing, Congress’s next session will only launch on the 9th. Then there is going to be some debate, and then there is going to be a decision that can be either way. So, the outcome of all this seems very vague.

On the legal side:

Saving Syria: International law is not the answer

A No-Win Situation in Syria for the UN and International Law

Can International Law Save Syria?

I think it is pretty clear by now that this issue is never gonna be solved by law.

The use of chemical weapons is a violation of international norms which imposes consequences. It should impose consequences by all means. Then there is the non-intervention norm in the UN Charter, and here (as in many other cases from the past) is a dead end. Which norm is above the other? Would it be legal to intervene (for the US, for a coalition of Western powers, for NATO) without a Security Council authorization? What measures does the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle enable the international community to take and to what extent?

These are just some of the questions international law scholars and world leaders are considering these days. While they decide, let’s just hope there won’t be any more grievous attacks in Syria.

For more on the international law aspects of the Syrian crisis, keep following Opinio Juris’s Syria Insta-Symposium.