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In January 2026, the United States conducted a military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, framing the action as a domestic law-enforcement arrest rather than a use of force. Volume XLIX staff editor Victoria Pedreiro examines whether that characterization is consistent with international law and argues that rebranding international military intervention as domestic law enforcement risks undermining the United Nations Charter's prohibition on the use of force.
Following a U.S. military operation in January 2026 that involved airstrikes across Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, questions arose regarding both the legality of the intervention and Maduro’s potential immunity in U.S. courts. Drawing parallels to the 1989 U.S. intervention in Panama against Manuel Noriega, and subsequent legal proceedings against him, this post examines whether Nicolas Maduro could successfully invoke diplomatic immunity.
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) now control over $13 trillion in assets and have become powerful financial actors on the global stage. As these state-owned investment vehicles shift from passive holdings to direct investments, particularly in sensitive sectors, concerns surrounding politically-motivated investments have heightened. Volume XLIX staff editor Sophia Lima argues that the current patchwork of domestic screening procedures and voluntary international principles are inadequate tools for SWF regulation. This post examines why stronger transparency requirements and a binding international framework are needed to regulate SWFs in the modern global economy.
Greenland, an Arctic territory with a predominantly Inuit population, has become the subject of renewed international debate over sovereignty and self-determination. Amid claims that Greenland could be acquired by an external power, Volume XLIX staff editor Ariel Hanover argues that international law forecloses treating Greenland as a negotiable asset. This post examines how the right of indigenous self-determination under the UN Charter, human rights treaties, and evolving international norms constrains external claims to Greenland’s sovereignty, and why violating those protections would carry serious consequences for the rules-based international order.
Regulatory approaches to smart contracts and their potential for abuse differ across the globe, creating a lack of uniform liability standards that enables bad actors to evade responsibility. This post explores how smart contracts’ autonomous and borderless nature makes them vulnerable to criminal misuse, while fragmented global regulations leave major gaps in accountability. Charlotte Chandler proposes a two-tiered framework that preserves code as a protected form of expression while holding programmers accountable when their deployed code functionally facilitates illicit activity.
As global technology and economic trends increasingly depend on the exploitation of natural resources in Indigenous territory, the United States must ensure the Indigenous right of consultation is meaningfully codified in US domestic law. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is the most comprehensive enumeration of this right, and Volume XLIX staff editor Rachel Amran argues that as an endorsing nation, the United States should pass its own statutory consultation mandate in line with UNDRIP standards. This post explores the current US legal regime on consultation and international Indigenous rights standards.
Once largely the stuff of science fiction, posthumous parenthood is now a scientific reality. Volume XLIX staff editor Shayna Altschuller explores one of the legal challenges that arise when a child is conceived after a parent’s death. With growing international use of posthumous assisted reproduction, U.S. and foreign inheritance laws sometimes leave these children in legal limbo. This post examines how jurisdictions like Israel, Ukraine, and the U.S. grapple with statutory recognition of posthumously conceived children -- and why legislative clarity is urgently needed.
In January 2026, the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and asserted control over Venezuela’s oil industry. Framed by U.S. officials as both a security and economic measure, the operation raises a fundamental question of international law: does the seizure and sale of another state’s natural resources constitute lawful asset enforcement, or an unlawful violation of state sovereignty?
On January 7, 2026, President Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a landmark climate treaty ratified by the Senate in 1992. The decision has reignited debate over whether a President may unilaterally withdraw from a Senate-approved treaty and what such action means for future U.S. participation in the Convention. In this post, Volume XLIX staff editor Alex Levine examines the legal uncertainty surrounding the withdrawal and the prospects for reentry.