MJIL Blog

By Jesse Calo On February 25, President Biden ordered an airstrike in Syria against Iranian-backed militias in response to their rocketing of U.S. targets in Baghdad and Erbil from ten days prior.[1] While President Biden asserted a constitutional basis for his authority to act, he also provided a basis for the strike under international law:…

By Jiaying Zhang On February 10th, 2021, the Biden Administration decided to halt two executive orders, which were signed by his predecessor, which banned social media platforms Tiktok and Wechat from the U.S. market.[1] This move will allow American users to continue their enjoyment of these communications applications, but it prevents the courts from further…

By Sicheng Shen The digitalization of the economy has been a key focus of tax debates in recent years.[1] Political debates have focused on the differences between taxing physical business operations and virtual operations.[2] Changing international rules on digital taxation will impact both where and how much tax the impacted digital businesses pay.[3] The current…

By Fabiola Gretzinger On March 23, 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed the U.N. Resolution on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Nicaragua, urging the Nicaraguan Government to respect the basic human rights of Nicaraguans.[1] The country has faced civilian unrest and government oppression since 2018 under the “leadership” of President…

By Andrea Rosato Berlin’s city planning exists between two identities. The city is simultaneously known for its outstanding transportation system,[1] while also being the capital of the “country of cars.”[2] Now, there is a third player seeking space on Berlin’s roads: cyclists.[3] In 2018, cyclists achieved a major win with the passage of the Mobility…

By John Weber Arguably the two worst humanitarian crises in the world, Yemen and Syria, are a result of civil wars fueled by foreign intervention and replete with international law violations. You’d think these are exactly the type of conflicts the UN was designed to solve. After all, the UN’s Charter begins by stating its…

By Matt Nelson A recent recommendation made by the U.S. National Security Commission for AI, led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, has urged the Biden Administration to reject any calls toward a ban on autonomous weapon systems.[1] Primarily, the panel asserts that the U.S. could use these robotic weapons in a safe and lawful…

By Erik Allerson On March 10th, 2021, Russia’s federal agency in charge of communications and information technology, Roskomnadzor, announced via the Russian social media website VKontakte that it had deliberately slowed down internet service speed for users in the country attempting to access Twitter.[1] It claimed to have decelerated the use of Twitter on 100%…

By Michael Keller Bitcoin’s astronomical surge in valuation was one of the defining digital trends of 2020. Valued at around $8,500 at the beginning of March of last year, the cryptocurrency is now, as of March 9, 2021, trading above $50,000.[1] Its market capitalization—which, in the crypto space, is calculated by multiplying coins in circulation…

By Yu-Chen Wang The digitalization of the economy has been a focus of tax debates in recent years. For example, in 2019, there was a potential trade war caused by a France tax targeting the so-called “digital services” of “GAFA”, the abbreviation of Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon.[1] Other countries, including Italy and the United…