• OPINION

  How terrorism will lead to IS downfall

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 27/07/2015

  » Turkey's airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) and its decision to allow US warplanes to operate from its air bases are in direct response to terrorist attacks in the Turkish town of Suruc earlier in the week. The cause-and-effect relationship highlights what's becoming a central strategic dilemma for Islamic State.

• OPINION

  'Happy Birthday' to all, except for some lawyers

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 30/09/2015

  » Happy Birthday has been freed from its copyright shackles: rejoice! But don't rejoice too much. The federal district court in California that invalidated Warner/Chappell Music's claim to own the lyrics didn't rely on the logic you might imagine, namely that the words are as much a part of the public domain as, well, the phrase Happy Birthday.

• OPINION

  Misperceptions fuel Israel violence

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 20/10/2015

  » One of the most striking features of the terrible cycle of violence in Israel right now is a recurring disagreement about the facts. From the Israeli perspective, Palestinians are randomly stabbing Israelis, after which Israeli police or bystanders shoot the assailants to prevent further violence. From the Palestinian perspective, the shootings by Israelis are either unprovoked or disproportionate to the threats and therefore amount to extrajudicial killings.

• OPINION

  Yuan move is good for political stability

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 08/12/2015

  » The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) decision to designate the Chinese renminbi, commonly known as the yuan, as a global reserve currency will, over time, encourage the country's leadership to make the currency more tradeable. But the political implications of global reserve status may be more significant than the economic ones.

• OPINION

  Constitutional crisis a risk in the UK

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 30/06/2016

  » The phrase "constitutional crisis" looms large over the aftermath of Britain's vote to leave the EU. The possibility of such a crisis has been invoked in connection with what would happen if the Scottish parliament refuses to approve Britain's withdrawal; what might happen if Britain's main parliament should ignore the results of the Brexit referendum; and the possible consequences of taking seriously the popular petition calling for a second vote on the basis of a new "rule" requiring a 60% approval and 75% turnout on EU-related matters.

• WORLD

  Supreme Court forces nationalism into movie theatres

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 05/12/2016

  » Amid rising Hindu nationalism, the Supreme Court of India has ordered theatres to play the national anthem before films and directed moviegoers to stand at attention -- no excuses. The Indian constitution is a wonder of the world, but this decision undercuts free-speech and individual rights at a moment when the country can ill-afford it. The court, which has the final word in interpreting the constitution, can still reverse itself. And it should, because the court's job is to protect rights, not to impose duties and obligations when the legislature has not done so.

• OPINION

  Detention of Muslims is a horror we cannot forget

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 20/01/2017

  » Innocent men detained for months or years after the Sept 11 attacks on suspicion of being Muslim will get their day in the US Supreme Court on Wednesday. The odds don't look good. The court will probably dismiss their constitutional suit against the government officials who implemented the policies that arrested immigrants who had overstayed their visas and held them in abusive conditions until after they had been affirmatively proved innocent, and sometimes beyond.

• OPINION

  Syria's Kurds work all the angles for autonomy

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 17/05/2017

  » Outside the headlines, something remarkable is going on in Syria. The Kurds, making a long-term play for an autonomous region, seem to have decided that their best bet is to buy it from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. And the US is signaling that it may be on-board -- a startling reflection of its pro-Russian, anti-Turkish policy.

• OPINION

  The fit deserve the right to serve

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 28/07/2017

  » A ban on transgender people serving in the US military would probably be unconstitutional under any circumstances. But President Donald Trump has pretty much guaranteed that courts would strike down such a ban by announcing it on Wednesday on Twitter, without any real justification.

• OPINION

  Trump's anti-nuclear playbook looks like Obama's

  News, Noah Feldman, Published on 10/08/2017

  » Imposing United Nations sanctions on North Korea is the first major foreign policy success of the Donald Trump administration. The effort has a chance of working -- provided Mr Trump keeps following a model borrowed from president Barack Obama's dealings with Iran. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And the only way to pressure a nuclear or near-nuclear power to the table is with economic sanctions that weaken the regime without threatening its existence.

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