State Department

May 2 Event in DC: Common Challenges to Diverse Security Threats: A Conversation with Mallory Stewart

On Monday, May 2, at 5:30 p.m. at Tillar House in Washington D.C., the Dean Rusk International Law Center will co-sponsor “Common Challenges to Diverse Security Threats: A Conversation with Mallory Stewart.”

Mallory_Stewart_8x10_200_1The event will feature remarks by Mallory Stewart, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Emerging Security Challenges and Defense Policy at the U.S. Department of State. She is responsible for the management of the Office of Emerging Security Challenges and the Office of Chemical and Biological Weapons Affairs. Prior to this position, she served as an attorney in the Legal Adviser’s Office. In that role, she represented the United States before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, served on the U.S. delegation that negotiated the Ballistic Missile Agreements with Poland and Romania, and acted as the lead lawyer on the 2013 U.S.-Russian Framework for the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons.

Stewart will explore the challenges common to the areas of space, cyber security, and chemical and biological weapons affairs, and the relevance of legal and/or political frameworks.tsinghua

Acting as moderator and discussant will be Diane Marie Amann, the University of Georgia School of Law’s Associate Dean for International Programs & Strategic Initiatives, Emily & Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law.

The event, also sponsored by the Nonproliferation, Arms Control & Disarmament Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, that I chair, will have a reception following the substantive discussion. We welcome those in the DC area to join us. The event is free and registration is not required, but appreciated.

Ambassadorial briefing on Venezuela

wac_vz-eventEarlier this week, Dean Rusk International Law Center staffer Martica Marín and I attended an excellent event at Atlanta’s World Affairs Council: “Venezuela: A Crisis at our Doorstep.” It featured a conversation between the two ambassadors at left: Roger Noriega, former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and former U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States. Posing questions was Council President Charles Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela.

Ambassador Noriega emphasized the importance of the crisis in Venezuela to U.S. interests not only because of its proximity to the United States, but also because, he said, it is serving as a breeding ground for drug smuggling, money laundering, and support of global terrorist networks. He warned that should Venezuela become a failed state, the vacuum of power could worsen this situation. He opined that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro‘s control over the country’s situation was tenuous, and said that the likelihood of violence during a regime change and a refugee crisis was high.

On a positive note, Noriega said he was encouraged by the opposition party’s success in December’s parliamentary elections. Both he and Ambassador Shapiro stressed, to the large number of Venezuelans in the audience, that political organization would be key to creating change in U.S. policy towards Venezuela. arepas

In all, a highly interesting discussion, punctuated by a fun excuse for Martica, left, and me to grab some arepas at Atlanta’s own Arepa Mia. It’s one of only a few, but growing number, of Venezuelan restaurants in the United States.

Exchange of Notes débuts

We at the Dean Rusk International Law Center are very pleased to announce the début of Exchange of Notes.

With this web platform, we look forward to giving news of events and initiatives at the Center, which has served since 1977 as the nucleus for global research, education, and service at the University of Georgia School of Law.

Exchange of Notes also will provide brief accounts – drafted by our community of faculty, staff, and students – of developments in international law, research, and policy.

Picture1As international lawyers well know, “exchange of notes / échanges des notes” refers to a series of documents, signed by diplomats or similar high-ranking officials, by which countries may enter into agreements. (image credit) The term bears special meaning for us, given that our namesake is former Georgia Law Professor Dean Rusk, whose role in the Cabinets of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ranks him as the 2d-longest serving Secretary of State.

We look forward to our own long run.