JIB/JAB Podcast

A conversation with Boyd van Dijk, currently a McKenzie Fellow at the University of Melbourne in Australia, about his new book, Preparing for War: The Making of the Geneva Conventions. We discuss some of the myths surrounding the history of the conventions, as well as the tensions and conflicts not just between parties to the negotiations, but also within delegations, caused by conflicting interests, values, and paradoxes within their positions. We dig into the weeds of some of the different aspects of the negotiations, and discuss why this history should matter to how we think about and understand the operation of the conventions today. A fascinating conversation! For more info, visit our website at: https://jibjabpodcast.com

A conversation with Leila Sada, Professor of Law at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, United States, and special advisor on crimes against humanity to the Prosecutor of the ICC. We discuss the decade long effort to establish a new international convention to prohibit and punish crimes against humanity, the role and limitations of the ICC in governing crimes against humanity, the relationship between genocide and crimes against humanity, and a number of other related issues - a fascinating discussion! For more info and links to materials referred to, visit our website: https://jibjabpodcast.com

A conversation with Dr. Chile Eboe-Osuji, former President of the ICC and Distinguished International Jurist at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Toronto Metropolitan University in Canada. We discuss why the ICC cannot prosecute the crime of aggression in Ukraine and what the better alternatives might be, the jurisdiction and immunity issues that might arise, how other war crimes should be prosecuted, and how the war might provide an impetus for amending the Rome Statute, establishing a right to peace, restoring the jus ad bellum regime, and strengthening international criminal justice. A fascinating and wide-ranging discussion! For more info and links to materials referred to, visit our website: https://jibjabpodcast.com

A conversation with David Sloss, Professor of Law at the University of Santa Clara, about his new book, "Tyrants on Twitter: Protecting Democracies from Information Warfare." We discuss the recent history Russian and Chinese exploitation of social media, and explore the strategic and geopolitical implications of allowing these countries engage in this "warfare by other means" to undermine democracies around the world. We examine David's law and policy proposal for how democracies might combat this form of information warfare, which includes an international agreement among democratic states to ban Russian and Chinese state agents from social media platforms, and debate some of the likely objections to his argument - including its implicit rejection of broader and more universal international law solutions and its inherent double standard, whether it distracts from several larger threats to democracy posed by social media platforms, the risk of securitizing an essentially non-military problem, and some of the more technical challenges to its implementation. A fascinating discussion! For more info and links to materials referred to, visit our website: https://jibjabpodcast.com

Eliav Lieblich, Tel Aviv University professor on human rights and use-of-force law. Ingrid Wuerth, Vanderbilt Law School professor focused on sovereignty and collective security. Marko Milanovic, international law scholar on jus ad bellum and armed conflict. They debate whether past Western breaches weakened norms, how human-rights legalism intersects with territorial integrity, fractures in the UN security system, and risks to nuclear non-proliferation and rearmament.

A conversation with Sam Moyn, Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and Professor of History at Yale University. We discuss his recent and acclaimed book "Humane," which, drawing on an insight of Leo Tolstoy, argues that as the United States has come to focus on humanizing armed conflict in the last few decades, its interest in constraining the incidence of war has declined. We discuss the historical accounts that form the core premises of this argument, and dig into the nature and implications of the inverse relationship that forms the center of his argument. As the invasion of Ukraine begins, his argument that we have lost sight of the importance of preventing war is that much more urgent. A fascinating discussion about a provocative book that will leave you with a lot of food for thought! For more info and links to materials referred to, visit our website: https://jibjabpodcast.com

A conversation with Olivier Corten, Professor of International Law at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium, about the recently published 2nd edition of his book "The Law Against War." Our discussion ranges from the differing methodological approaches to the international law on the use of force, the threshold for what constitutes a use of force, the scope and operation of the doctrine of self-defense, the proper understanding of the principle of necessity, the validity of anticipatory self-defense, how the law on use of force applies to actions against non-state actors, cyber operations, and much more! For more info and links to materials referred to, visit our website: https://jibjabpodcast.com

A conversation with Aslı Bâli, Professor of Law at UCLA in the United States, on the lawfulness of comprehensive autonomous economic sanctions, and the relationship they may have with the laws of war. Economic sanctions can cause the kind of humanitarian harm and economic disruption that could be unlawful under IHL, or constitute a prohibited use of force if caused by cyber operations or naval blockade, and are also potentially in violation of human rights law - so why are they so often considered a legitimate and benign alternative to the use of force? We explore in a fascinating conversation! For more info and links to materials referred to, visit our website: https://jibjabpodcast.com

Discussion with Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, who's terms as Judge and President of the ICC ended recently, on his role in the development of the ICC, and on some of the criticisms of the Court. We examine the meaning of "attack" in the Rome Statute through the lens of the Ntaganda case, and the relationship between so-called Hague Law and Geneva Law, and between war crimes and crimes against humanity, all within the context of the object and purpose of IHL, and the need for intelligibility and accessibility as a fundamental component of the rule of law - fascinating discussion! For links to materials discussed, see our website: https://jibjabpodcast.com

A panel discussion ofthe legal issues raised in the Gaza conflict of May 2021, with Professors Janina Dill of the University of Oxford, Adil Haque of Rutgers University Law School, and Aurel Sari of Exeter University Law School. The conversation begins by placing the legal issues in context, and addressing the question of whether the narrow focus on technical legal aspects may serve to obscure the broader ethical issues, or even facilitate and legitimate injustice. The analysis turns to the the questions of the legal authority or justification for Israel's use of force, and whether its use of force complies with the limiting principles of whichever legal regime may govern. Turning to the conduct of hostilities, it examines the extent to which IDF actions complied with the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack, and debates the legal effect of warnings, and what burden there may be on belligerents to disclose evidence in support of their claims of lawfulness. A deep and sophisticated analysis of the issues. For links to the materials discussed, visit our website: https://jibjabpodcast.com