international relations

Georgia Law Professor Diane Marie Amann presents on Nuremberg trial at British Institute of International & Comparative Law

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Diane Marie Amann presented “International Military Tribunal Nuremberg 1945-1946,” an overview of the first post-World War II international criminal trial, at the British Institute of International & Comparative Law in London.

Her talk opened “80 Years On: The Legacy of the Nuremberg Trials for Accountability,” a panel of experts convened to analyze the midtwentieth-century trials project. The panel also looked to contemporary developments in international relations and international criminal justice – not least, to the Nuremberg precedent which permitted international criminal prosecutions of heads of state and other governmental leaders. A full video of the panel can be found here.

Besides Professor Amann (pictured above left), panelists included (l to r): Dan Plesch, Professor of Diplomacy & Strategy at SOAS University of London; Christoph Safferling, Director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy and Professor of Law at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg; as moderator, International Criminal Court Judge Joanna Korner CMG KC; Kirsty Sutherland, international barrister at 9BR Chambers, London; and Sir Howard Morrison KCMG CBE KC, former Judge on the International Criminal Court. (LinkedIn photo credit)

Cosponsoring the panel along with BIICL were the Robert H. Jackson Center and the International Nuremberg Principles Academy.

Amann is Regents’ Professor of International Law, Emily & Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law, and a Faculty Co-Director of our Dean Rusk International Law Center here at Georgia Law. During her current research-intensive semester, she is an Affiliate Academic at University College London Faculty of Laws. She has published several essays on the Nuremberg era and is writing a book on lawyers and other women professionals at that first trial.

Reflections on Global Atlanta Event, “Georgia and Japan: 50 Years of Commerce and Culture — Debriefing on the 2023 SEUS-Japan Conference”

One of the Dean Rusk International Law Center’s current Visiting Research Scholars, Daesun Kim, Esq., attended this week’s Global Atlanta event, “Georgia and Japan: 50 Years of Commerce and Culture — Debriefing on the 2023 SEUS-Japan Conference.” Global Atlanta is one of the Center’s institutional partners. Below are some of Kim’s reflections of the event.

Global Atlanta, Baker Donelson, and the Japan-America Society of Georgia gathered on November 30 to discuss the October 2023 SEUS-Japan Conference. Around 50 economic and development leaders from Georgia participated in the October conference, which took place in Tokyo for the first time since COVID and included representatives from the 16 states in the Southeastern United States (SEUS). The visit by the Georgia delegation, in particular, holds significant meaning as it coincides with the 50th anniversary, commemorating the longstanding tradition and history between Japan and the state of Georgia.

The speakers at this week’s event, who reflected on their experience visiting Japan as part of this delegation, included:

  • Bob Johnson, immigration attorney at Baker Donelson, and board member of the Japan-America Society of Georgia
  • Trevor Williams, Managing Editor at Global Atlanta (moderator)
  • Jim Whitcomb, Chair of the Japan-America Society of Georgia
  • Jessica Cork, VP of Community Engagement and Communications at YKK, who was honored with the Busbee Award
  • Mellissa Takeuchi, Project Manager at the Georgia Department of Economic Development

The panelists’ takeaways from the SEUS-Japan Conference included the level of significance attributed to developing and maintaining personal connections with various government high-level officials. Georgia is a hub for Japanese businesses in the southeastern United States, with currently more than 500 Japanese-affiliated companies operating in the state, including YKK (USA) America, Inc., Kubota Manufacturing of America Corp., NACOM Corporation, and Yamaha Motor Mfg. Corp. of America. These officials see their establishment of personal and professional connections as significant contributors to the enhancement of economic and diplomatic cooperation.

These relationships are of particular importance for Georgia, whose Savannah Port acts as a gateway between Japan and the southeastern region of the U.S and thus plays a crucial role in the auto-EV-battery supply chain. It is anticipated that all states within SEUS will contribute to this industry’s growth; in particular, the panelists saw the development of certain business relationships, such as Toyota’s automotive and EV battery ventures, as important outcomes of the SEUS-Japan Conference.

Takeuchi highlighted the significance of the longstanding 50-year collaboration between SEUS and Japan. She noted a renewed energy from Japan to engage more actively and collaborate further with SEUS following the recent Japan visit. Additionally, she noted the importance of the Georgia-kai, a Georgia-based organization of Japanese expatriates, which holds a pivotal role in the state’s continued engagement with both existing and prospective Japanese industries.

The panelists agreed that Georgia and Japan’s growing relationship across economic, business, diplomatic, and cultural sectors is a direct result of this mutual investment in sustained communication and relationship building, the direct result of initiatives like the SEUS-Japan Conference.