International Law


The New Race for the Moon -- Michio Kaku  -- Wall Street Journal  -- June 24, 2009
Lunar Development

Michio Kaku surveys the growing number nations planning competing missions to the moon (including Japan, China, India, and the U.S.) and argues that the growing lunar competition should motivate a re-examination of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty "before national rivalries and tensions heat up as we approach 2020."


Cyberwar I -- Cyrus Farivar  -- Slate.com  -- May 22, 2007
Information Warfare

The author looks at some of the lessons that can be learned from the month-lang information warfare attack on Estonian government computers by unknown attackers, possibly originating from Russia.


Writing the rules to govern the cosmos -- Sheera Frenkel  -- Christian Science Monitor  -- August 8, 2004
Space Expansion

Where mankind may go, lawyers are quick to follow - and futuristic as it may seem, some are busily writing the laws they hope will ultimately govern the universe.


Outer Space Treaty May Ban Strike Weapons -- George Bunn and John Rhinelander  -- Arms Control Today  -- June 1, 2002
Space Warfare

The authors contend that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty already bans the "stationing of strike weapons of any sort in low-Earth orbit, including kinetic kill vehicles and lasers."


Keeping track of anthrax: The case for a biosecurity convention -- Michael Barletta, Amy Sands & Jonathan B. Tucker  -- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists  -- May 1, 2002
Chemical / Biological Warfare

The authors suggest that to control the threat of bioterrorism, the Bush administration should strengthen domestic regulations to control and secure deadly pathogens and toxins and by launching the negotiation of a new ?biosecurity convention? to control these substances internationally.


The New Frontier -- David Kopel & Glenn Reynolds  -- National Review  -- June 6, 2002
Space Expansion

The authors argue that the Outer Space Treaty is a historical anachronism and an impediment to space expansion and they argue that it "needs to have its valuable parts salvaged, and the dangerous ones demolished."


Legal Issues in Defending Against Asteroids -- Michael B. Gerrard  -- New York Law Journal  -- March 26, 1998
Space Warfare

Michael Gerrard examines the international legal issues involved in defending against earth-crossing asteroids.


The Outer Space and Moon Treaties and the Coming Moon Rush -- Bill Carswell  -- Spacedaily  -- April 18, 2002
Lunar Development

The author argues that the international community should revisit the Outer Space Treaty and the Moon Treaty before beginning the next phase of lunar exploration and development.


International Law and the Military Uses of Space -- Ambassador Thomas Graham  -- Disarmament Diplomacy  -- April 1, 2002
Space Warfare

Ambassador Graham argues that the international community should pursue a new treaty that establishes "a space regime, under which the international community decisively enshrines space as a peaceful environment."


Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and International Law -- Hans-Joachim Heintze  -- INESAP Information Bulletin #17  -- April 1, 1999
Space Warfare

Hans-Joachim Heintze examines the term "peaceful uses of outer space" in international law and concludes that the term is ambigious and of little use for developing an space weapons treaty.

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