Posted by John B. Bellinger III on Oct 16, 2007 - 05:53 PM
![John B. Bellinger III, Legal Advisor to the Secretary of State in Paris, 6/16/2007. [AP file photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2007_1015_bellinger_m.jpg)
Last Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a significant case involving U.S. treaty obligations. The Government urged the Court to affirm the President’s authority to order compliance with a ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The case was argued by the Solicitor General, and the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser helped to draft the briefs.
The case before the Supreme Court involved the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and its Optional Protocol. Under the Vienna Convention, a country that is party to the Convention and that arrests a…
Category: Policy More entries by John B. Bellinger III | Comments (10)
Posted by Frederick Jones on Oct 16, 2007 - 01:50 PM
![Map showing the boundries of Armenia. [State Department image]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2007_1016_aremenia_m.jpg)
Should the U.S. Congress consider the resolution labeling the Ottoman Empire's World War I massacre of Armenians a genocide?
Category: Question of the Week More entries by Frederick Jones | Comments (41)
Posted by Lauren Landis on Oct 15, 2007 - 01:53 PM
![AMIS personnel carry the coffin of a peacekeeper during a funeral ceremony in Sudan. [AP photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2007_1015_sudan_m.jpg)
Lauren's previous post: En Route to Darfur
I returned from Darfur last week where I went to look at the progress U.S. contractors are making on the camps that will house U.N. peacekeepers when they arrive in Sudan. I spent much of my time around El Fasher in camps including Zam Zam and UmKadada. El Fasher is the capital of North Darfur.
From what I saw, there’s a lot that’s been done: Crews are working around the clock in three shifts to install the big white tents and containers…
Category: Africa More entries by Lauren Landis | Comments (4)
Posted by Tara Foley on Oct 12, 2007 - 05:40 PM
![Foreign Affairs Officer Tara Foley at the U.S. Department of State [U.S. Dept. of State photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/tara_foley_m.jpg)
Let’s talk about one of the most contentious, complicated, and taboo topics in Saudi Arabia: women. In the KSA, even the most mundane aspects of daily life can stir up controversy when it comes to women. Working, education, wardrobe, driving, and even a visit to Starbucks are all areas of heated debate over women’s role in society. Of course there are two distinct aspects to this story: the experience of Western women, like me, and that…
Category: Behind the Scenes More entries by Tara Foley | Comments (27)
Posted by Thomas Niblock on Oct 11, 2007 - 03:01 PM
![Afghan girls play football during a tournament in Kabul, Afghanistan July 12, 2007. [AP file photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/afghan_soccer_m.jpg)
Last week, I was invited to distribute soccer kits to a dozen Afghan girl’s soccer teams. You should have seen those girls pounding it out on the field against a mish-mash (and out classed) team of women representing the various ISAF military contingents. As I consider these first six weeks in Afghanistan, that experience helps frame my impressions. Six years ago there were virtually no girls in school in Afghanistan, and certainly none out building confidence on the soccer field! Today, there are about a million and a half female students, not yet even half of those who are eligible for school, but the numbers are significant and growing.
Probably everything negative you may have heard about Afghanistan…
Category: Behind the Scenes More entries by Thomas Niblock | Comments (4)