International Law Behind the Headlines
Episodes
Episode 59 - Boarding and Seizing Ships (and related Caribbean issues)
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Boarding and Seizing Ships (and related Caribbean issues) with Michael Scharf, President of the American Branch of the International Law Association
Episode 58 - The US UN Headquarters Agreement and the Visa Battle over Mahmoud Abbas
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Larry Johnson joins the podcast to explain the legal underpinnings of this year’s controversy a...
Episode 57 - International Obligations with Respect to Climate Change
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the past year, three international courts and tribunals—the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the S...
Episode 56 - Interviewing the Court of Justice of the EU
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode with speak with Katerina Linos of UC Berkeley and Mark Pollack of Temple University about their project to interview the judges of the...
Episode 55 - Peace Treaties
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does the law of treaties—and jus ad bellum—say about peace treaties? We discuss these issues, the history of peace treaties, and their possib...
Episode 54 - Is the Trump Administration’s Deep Seabed Mining Program Violating International Law?
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode Samantha Rowe, partner in the London office of Debevoise and Plimpton, joins the podcast to discuss the recent Trump executive order a...
Episode 53 - The WTO in the Second Trump Administration
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode considers the implications of a second Trump administration for international law and policy in the United States and explores the future...
Episode 52 - The United Nations in the Second Trump Administration
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Gowan, Director for UN and Multilateral Diplomacy at the International Crisis Group and one of the world’s chief UN watchers, joins the podc...
Episode 51 - Int'l Negotiations Around a Possible Convention on Crimes against Humanity
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Catherine is joined by Sean D. Murphy, Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law at George Washington University and former Member of...
ASIL Episode 50 - Post-Election Series Part 1: The Future of NATO
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this first of a multi-part series exploring the implications a second Trump administration for international law and policy in the United States, C...
ASIL Episode 49 - Extraterritorial Killings and Kidnappings
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, featuring Professor Leila Sadat, we discuss the recent rise in violent extraterritorial action by states, such as the allegations by ...
Episode 48 - The Future of Armed Conflict
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Singer is Senior Fellow at New America, author of Wired for War and LikeWar, and one of the nation’s leading experts on the evolution of armed...
Episode 47 - The Law of Sieges
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Professor Monica Hakimi of Columbia discusses the international law governing sieges, how it interacts with IHL generally, and its ap...
Episode 46 - Future Proofing: A Conversation with WHO about the Proposed Pandemic Treaty
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Reports from the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly indicate a willingness from member States to finalize the Pandemic Treaty – a proposed lega...
Episode 45 - Naming the Unnamed: Addressing Gender Inequality and the Role of the CEDAW Committee
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A month after this year’s International Women’s Day and as we approach the eighty-eighth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimina...
Episode 44 - Climate Action From Dubai to Baku: A Look Back at COP28 and the Road to COP29
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (“COP28”) concluded on December 13, 2023—with almost 200 countries signing a landmark Stocktak...
Episode 43 - International Law & Outer Space
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From new launches, private and public, into outer space to the growing challenge of “space debris,” space is a growing challenge for international...
Episode 42 - The Law of Armed Conflict in the Israel-Hamas War
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Just Security Editors in Chief Tess Bridgeman and Ryan Goodman join Kal to discuss some of the hardest legal questions raised by the current conflict ...
Episode 41: The ICC and Russia with Luis Moreno Ocampo
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we speak with the first chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to discuss the recent actions of the ICC against Vladimi...
Episode 40: Legendary diplomat, scholar, and civil rights leader, Ralph Bunche
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Catherine Amirfar interviews co-host Kal Raustiala about his new book, The Absolutely Indispensable Man: Ralph Bunche, the United Nat...
Episode 39: Feminist Theories of International Law, 30 Years On
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How does feminist thought intersect with international law? Catherine Powell and Adrien Wing join Kal to discuss the recent AJIL Unbound symposium on ...
Episode 38: Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji – Criminal Justice in an Unjust World
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Catherine speaks with Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji—former President of the International Criminal Court—about why international crimina...
Episode 37: Reining in Disinformation with David Sloss
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode David Sloss of Santa Clara Law School discusses his new book, Tyrants on Twitter, and his proposals to combat disinformation and the m...
Episode 36: Does MBS Have Immunity in US Courts?
22 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman is being sued in federal court with regard to the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi. A key issue is whether MBS’s ap...
Episode 35: Ukraine and the Resilience of International Law with Elena Chachko and Katerina Linos
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Kal speaks with the co-editors of the recent AJIL Unbound symposium on Ukraine and International Law, who discuss the contributions to...
Episode 34: Threats and Uses of Force with Monica Hakimi
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The UN Charter in Article 2(4) governs not only the use of force but also threats to use force. The situation in Ukraine raises many questions about t...
Episode 33: Non-Binding Agreements and International Law with Oona Hathaway
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 33: Non-Binding Agreements and International Law with Oona Hathaway by American Society of International Law
Episode 32: The Pandora Papers - Offshore Finance with Felix Salmon
22 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Kal interviews Axios Chief Financial Correspondent and Slate Money host Felix Salmon about the recent, massive data dump of financial ...
Episode 31: AUKUS
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Hamilton of American University comes on the podcast to discuss the recent events around “AUKUS,” the Australia/UK/US security arrangement...
Episode 30: Conciliation for Climate Change
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With COP26 fast approaching, can the parties develop better methods for dispute settlement? In this episode ASIL President Catherine Amirfar discusses...
Episode 29: Do We Need A Pandemic Treaty?
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss vaccine passports, new multilateral agreements, and other emerging legal Issues in Geneva and elsewhere with Gian Luca Burc...
Episode 28: Belarus and the Plane - legal wrongs and remedies
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss the recent plane diversion by Belarus, which has been called a “state sponsored hijacking“. Joining us to analyze the i...
Episode 27: the Biden Administration and the Use of Force
07 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 27: the Biden Administration and the Use of Force by American Society of International Law
Episode 26: Exiting and Entering Treaties
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump sought to exit the WHO and the Paris Accord; President Biden is reversing both of those decisions. In this episode our guest Duncan Ho...
Episode 25: International Economic Law and the Pandemic
09 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This episode features Kathleen Claussen, co-author of the recent “The Perils of Pandemic Exceptionalism” in the ,emAmerican Journal of Internation...
Episode 24: Social Media, Freedom of Expression, and Elections
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we speak with David Kaye, former UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression, about content moderation, social media, ...
Episode 23: The US and the South China Sea
04 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we speak with Bonnie Glaser, head of the China Power Project at CSIS, about the recent State Department endorsement of the 2016 arbitr...
Episode 22: Snapback at the Security Council
28 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we speak with former National Security Council lawyer Tess Bridgeman about the Iran Deal, the recent maneuvers by the Trump administra...
Episode 21: The “Brussels Effect” with Anu Bradford of Columbia Law School
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The EU is the leading regulatory power in the world today. Why is it so influential and how does its influence manifest itself? Will it remain influen...
Episode 20: Authoritarian International Law?
01 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Catherine is joined by Dr. Tom Ginsburg, Professor of International Law and Political Science at the University of Chicago, to discuss his recent arti...
Episode 19: Coronavirus and the International Law of Epidemics
21 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Kal Raustiala speaks with Gian Luca Burci, former legal counsel at the World Health Organization, about how international law shapes t...
Episode 18: The Trump Administration’s Commission on Unalienable Rights
31 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Catherine Amirfar speaks with Professor Katharine Young, associate professor of law at Boston College Law School and expert on human...
Episode 17: Can the US Keep Iran’s Foreign Minister Out of the UN?
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode with Larry Johnson, former Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs at the UN, we discuss the recent denial of a visa to Iranian ...
Episode 16: The Iran Crisis with Avril Haines, senior national security advisor to President Obama
14 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This episode features a conversation with Avril Haines, assistant to the president and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama a...
Episode 15: Inside the Pentagon with former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter
22 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we speak with former Sec. of Defense Carter about crafting national security strategy, the role of international lawyers, and his new ...
Episode 14: Is California’s Climate Accord with Quebec Illegal?
30 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk with Penn Law Prof and foreign relations law expert Jean Galbraith about the legal basis and political context of the Trump ad...
Episode 13: 2019 UN General Assembly Recap
28 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Catherine Amirfar and Kal Raustiala discuss this fall’s opening of the UN General Assembly and the key themes and issues that emerg...
Episode 12: On the Precipice: A Possible U.S. War with Iran
03 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tensions between Iran and the US have reached a critical level, culminating in senior-level discourse during last week’s UN General Assembly meeting...
Episode 11: The Wisdom of Gathering Intelligence: Privacy and Surveillance
02 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What information can or should the government be able to discover in the name of national security, when information is among the most valuable curren...
Episode 10: Inside the Obama Administration with former Deputy National Securi
19 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Rhodes was one of President Obama’s most trusted foreign policy advisors, the author of many of his key foreign policy speeches, and Deputy Nati...
Episode 9: Nuclear Arms Control and Stability in a Post-INF Treaty World, with
12 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (“INF”) Treaty, which required the destruction of the ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles wit...
Episode 8: The World Court and the Immunity of Int'l Organizations, with Dame Rosalyn Higgins
30 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Dame Rosalyn Higgins, former judge and President of the International Court of Justice, for her reflections on the r...
Episode 7: The Mueller Investigation and Foreign Sovereign Immunity
15 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we speak with Chimene Keitner, Fromm Professor of Law at Hastings and former Counselor at the State Department about the very unusual ...
Episode 6: Skirmishes at the India - Pakistan border, featuring Adil Haque
21 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Kal Raustiala speaks with use of force expert Adil Haque of Rutgers Law School, author of Law and Morality at War, about the recent s...
Episode 5: The “Unmaking” of Treaties with John Bellinger
14 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The United States now faces three cases before the International Court of Justice: two instituted by Iran and one by Palestine. With new cases pending...
Episode 4: How Does Int'l Law Get Incorporated into Presidential Decision-Making?
25 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Drawing from her experiences serving at the White House and the State Department during the Obama Administration, Tess Bridgeman discusses how interna...
Episode 3: “Dawn of the Code War” with fmr Asst. Attorney General for National Security John Carlin
04 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Is a cyberwar the realm of science fiction? What is the most pressing cyber threat we face and are we prepared? What international framework do we nee...
Episode 2: Russia vs. Ukraine - featuring Professor James Kraska
07 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In November, Russia seized three Ukrainian vessels and crew members off the coast of Crimea in what then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley conde...
Episode 1: Part 2—International Law Today
27 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Is the post-World War II international order being dismantled? Are we witnessing an unprecedented assault on the international order, or are current e...
Episode 1: Part I—International Law Today
27 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Is the post-World War II international order being dismantled? Are we witnessing an unprecedented assault on the international order, or are current e...