Craig Martin
@craigxmartin.bsky.social
Legal scholar: focus on international law on the use of force and armed conflict, as well as climate change law and policy; and comparative constitutional law; and host of: https://jibjabpodcast.com
The vote in the UN 3rd Committee on Nov. 20, on a recurring resolution to reaffirm the jus cogens prohibition against torture, which has been typically adopted by consensus. This year a vote was required, and 3 states voted no...
November 24, 2025 at 10:24 PM
The vote in the UN 3rd Committee on Nov. 20, on a recurring resolution to reaffirm the jus cogens prohibition against torture, which has been typically adopted by consensus. This year a vote was required, and 3 states voted no...
Sobering but insightful comments from Lloyd Axworthy at the CCIL annual conference in Ottawa, on the erosion of the Int’l rule of law.
www.ccil-ccdi.ca
www.ccil-ccdi.ca
November 13, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Sobering but insightful comments from Lloyd Axworthy at the CCIL annual conference in Ottawa, on the erosion of the Int’l rule of law.
www.ccil-ccdi.ca
www.ccil-ccdi.ca
Like UNEP, the Climate Action Tracker update estimates thar with this year’s national emission reduction pledges, we’re on track for a catastrophic 2.6 degree Celsius increase by 2100. climateactiontracker.org/documents/13...
November 13, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Like UNEP, the Climate Action Tracker update estimates thar with this year’s national emission reduction pledges, we’re on track for a catastrophic 2.6 degree Celsius increase by 2100. climateactiontracker.org/documents/13...
JIB/JAB is back for a new season - in Episode 41, I speak with @bcfinucane.bsky.social of @crisisgroup.org about the U.S. killings of alleged drug smugglers, and its implications for the international rule of law:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/j...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/j...
November 1, 2025 at 4:56 PM
JIB/JAB is back for a new season - in Episode 41, I speak with @bcfinucane.bsky.social of @crisisgroup.org about the U.S. killings of alleged drug smugglers, and its implications for the international rule of law:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/j...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/j...
Kudos to @charliesavage.bsky.social and @nytimes.com for this analysis of the illegality, and implications for the rule of law, of the killings of alleged drug smugglers.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
October 24, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Kudos to @charliesavage.bsky.social and @nytimes.com for this analysis of the illegality, and implications for the rule of law, of the killings of alleged drug smugglers.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
The media keep stressing that the ICJ Advisory Opinion issued today on the Obligations of Israel in relation to the UN in the Occupied Territories is "non-binding." But the obligations the opinion identified are very much binding - and Israel continues to violate many of them.
October 22, 2025 at 8:11 PM
The media keep stressing that the ICJ Advisory Opinion issued today on the Obligations of Israel in relation to the UN in the Occupied Territories is "non-binding." But the obligations the opinion identified are very much binding - and Israel continues to violate many of them.
The Guardian (@theguardian.com) should know better than this - the US gov’t characterizing as an armed conflict its extra-judicial killing of drug smugglers on the high seas, does not make it so. Media should not legitimize the false claim.
www.theguardian.com/...
www.theguardian.com/...
October 6, 2025 at 11:30 AM
The Guardian (@theguardian.com) should know better than this - the US gov’t characterizing as an armed conflict its extra-judicial killing of drug smugglers on the high seas, does not make it so. Media should not legitimize the false claim.
www.theguardian.com/...
www.theguardian.com/...
To clarify any lingering confusion, the law of armed conflict (LOAC)/international humanitarian law (IHL) could not operate to legitimize this strike on a drug-running vessel. There is no armed conflict, and so LOAC/IHL simply does not apply. Period. It is extra-judicial killing.
September 10, 2025 at 7:21 PM
To clarify any lingering confusion, the law of armed conflict (LOAC)/international humanitarian law (IHL) could not operate to legitimize this strike on a drug-running vessel. There is no armed conflict, and so LOAC/IHL simply does not apply. Period. It is extra-judicial killing.
The media are not addressing the legal issues - but the use of military force against cartels within the territory of another state, without its consent, would be a violation of the fundamental prohibition on the use of force in Art. 2(4) of the UN Charter.
www.nytimes.com/2025...
www.nytimes.com/2025...
August 8, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The media are not addressing the legal issues - but the use of military force against cartels within the territory of another state, without its consent, would be a violation of the fundamental prohibition on the use of force in Art. 2(4) of the UN Charter.
www.nytimes.com/2025...
www.nytimes.com/2025...
Interesting analysis of a German case that includes charges of using starvation as a method of warfare in Syria, and discussion of its significance as a precedent for this seldom prosecuted war crime:
lieber.westpoint.edu...
lieber.westpoint.edu...
August 1, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Interesting analysis of a German case that includes charges of using starvation as a method of warfare in Syria, and discussion of its significance as a precedent for this seldom prosecuted war crime:
lieber.westpoint.edu...
lieber.westpoint.edu...
The U.S. Dept. of Energy has released a new report claiming that reducing GHG emissions will do more harm than good - we are truly in an Orwellian phase of disinformation. Link in the comments.
August 1, 2025 at 2:18 PM
The U.S. Dept. of Energy has released a new report claiming that reducing GHG emissions will do more harm than good - we are truly in an Orwellian phase of disinformation. Link in the comments.
This is just so profoundly perverse and morally wrong - America’s actions on climate are not just harming future generations of Americans, but threatening all of humanity.
July 29, 2025 at 5:39 PM
This is just so profoundly perverse and morally wrong - America’s actions on climate are not just harming future generations of Americans, but threatening all of humanity.
Such secrecy and lack of transparency in the development and testing of solar geoengineering is unacceptable - and highlights again why stronger governance is needed:
www.politico.com/new...
www.politico.com/new...
July 28, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Such secrecy and lack of transparency in the development and testing of solar geoengineering is unacceptable - and highlights again why stronger governance is needed:
www.politico.com/new...
www.politico.com/new...
The irony that Republican administrations are banning books, like 1984, that the CIA used to smuggle into Warsaw Pact countries to undermine communist totalitarianism.
www.nytimes.com/2025...
www.nytimes.com/2025...
July 28, 2025 at 12:19 PM
The irony that Republican administrations are banning books, like 1984, that the CIA used to smuggle into Warsaw Pact countries to undermine communist totalitarianism.
www.nytimes.com/2025...
www.nytimes.com/2025...
In reporting on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, the media keep parroting that it is "non-binding" - but this reflects a misunderstanding - there is no binding order, but the many fundamental obligations identified by the court are all very much binding!!
Journalists, please note.
Journalists, please note.
July 25, 2025 at 8:39 PM
In reporting on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, the media keep parroting that it is "non-binding" - but this reflects a misunderstanding - there is no binding order, but the many fundamental obligations identified by the court are all very much binding!!
Journalists, please note.
Journalists, please note.
Here are a few of the more striking aspects of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change, after a quick read, (thread) - though in short, this is a powerful articulation of a range of binding erga omnes obligations under both treaty and custom...1/17
July 23, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Here are a few of the more striking aspects of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change, after a quick read, (thread) - though in short, this is a powerful articulation of a range of binding erga omnes obligations under both treaty and custom...1/17
New analysis on the impact of the "Big Beautiful Bill" on US carbon emissions, and implications for meeting US targets under its Paris Agreement pledges:
www.carbonbrief.org/...
www.carbonbrief.org/...
July 4, 2025 at 6:09 PM
New analysis on the impact of the "Big Beautiful Bill" on US carbon emissions, and implications for meeting US targets under its Paris Agreement pledges:
www.carbonbrief.org/...
www.carbonbrief.org/...
Hypothesis: 2 posts on X.com with exactly the same text, 1 with a link to the NYTimes or WaPo, the other to Fox or even no link at all, will get very different exposure and engagement due to suppression by the algorithm. Test it.
June 29, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Hypothesis: 2 posts on X.com with exactly the same text, 1 with a link to the NYTimes or WaPo, the other to Fox or even no link at all, will get very different exposure and engagement due to suppression by the algorithm. Test it.
Looking forward to speaking tomorrow at a conference hosted by the University of Milan, on the impact of the war in Ukraine on the pacifist principles of the Japanese and Italian constitutions. Russian aggression is not only undermining international law, but also some constitutional law.
May 14, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Looking forward to speaking tomorrow at a conference hosted by the University of Milan, on the impact of the war in Ukraine on the pacifist principles of the Japanese and Italian constitutions. Russian aggression is not only undermining international law, but also some constitutional law.
My new article on the need for more specific regulation of autonomous weapons systems has just been published in the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, and can be downloaded on SSRN: buff.ly/bSR27T0 (abstract below).
May 12, 2025 at 12:01 PM
My new article on the need for more specific regulation of autonomous weapons systems has just been published in the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, and can be downloaded on SSRN: buff.ly/bSR27T0 (abstract below).
The Harvard Int'l L.J. this week published an article by me and Scott Moore, on the grave risks posed by a form of solar geoengineering, and in particular the underappreciated risk that it could lead to war.
Download available: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Download available: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
March 5, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The Harvard Int'l L.J. this week published an article by me and Scott Moore, on the grave risks posed by a form of solar geoengineering, and in particular the underappreciated risk that it could lead to war.
Download available: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Download available: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
This is rather interesting and ironic - Musk's Grok-3 assesses the probability that Donald Trump is a Russian asset at between 70%-85%.
Prompt and conclusion below - the analysis was long, but you can try it yourself for the full answer.
Prompt and conclusion below - the analysis was long, but you can try it yourself for the full answer.
March 5, 2025 at 2:42 PM
This is rather interesting and ironic - Musk's Grok-3 assesses the probability that Donald Trump is a Russian asset at between 70%-85%.
Prompt and conclusion below - the analysis was long, but you can try it yourself for the full answer.
Prompt and conclusion below - the analysis was long, but you can try it yourself for the full answer.
BBC: "Trump tells Zelensky 'make a deal or we're out,' in angry white house meeting." Shameful.
www.bbc.com/news/live/c6...
www.bbc.com/news/live/c6...
February 28, 2025 at 7:13 PM
BBC: "Trump tells Zelensky 'make a deal or we're out,' in angry white house meeting." Shameful.
www.bbc.com/news/live/c6...
www.bbc.com/news/live/c6...
The US voted with Russia in the UN, against a Ukrainian resolution that condemned Russian aggression and was backed by all other NATO countries. Undermining Int’l law, alliances, global order…
https://buff.ly/41aRVNH
https://buff.ly/41aRVNH
February 25, 2025 at 12:52 PM
The US voted with Russia in the UN, against a Ukrainian resolution that condemned Russian aggression and was backed by all other NATO countries. Undermining Int’l law, alliances, global order…
https://buff.ly/41aRVNH
https://buff.ly/41aRVNH
My article, with co-author Scott Moore of UPenn, "Geoengineering Wars and Atmospheric Governance," is coming out soon in the Harvard Int'l L.J., but is now up on SSRN (link and abstract below):
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
February 14, 2025 at 3:18 PM
My article, with co-author Scott Moore of UPenn, "Geoengineering Wars and Atmospheric Governance," is coming out soon in the Harvard Int'l L.J., but is now up on SSRN (link and abstract below):
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....