Compiled by Athena Smith.
Articles
International Law in the Cuban Missile Crisis
Mykhailo Soldatenko explained that we can better understand the future of United Nations’ Charter Article 2(4) by using the Cuban missile crisis as a case study. Soldatenko argued that international law did not meaningfully constrain the Kennedy administration during the standoff, but U.S. officials did care to justify American actions in legal terms to partners and allies.
During their deliberations, members of the ExComm discussed the legality of various policy choices under international law. Since the Soviet Union and Cuba were not planning an immediate armed attack against the United States, all the proposed courses of action, including a blockade, could have violated the prohibition on the use of force in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. Indeed, a mere placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba did not constitute an armed attack against the United States that would justify the use of force in self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. In considering these legal challenges, U.S. legal advisers developed varying and controversial legal positions in an attempt to avoid the limitations under the charter and legally justify the choice of policies within the administration and to the world.
Siege Warfare by Other Means: The U.S. Economic Measures Against Cuba
Joy Gordon examined the impact of the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Cuba. Gordon described how U.S. sanctions have created an economic and humanitarian crisis in Cuba through their combined impact, preventing fuel deliveries, driving out foreign trade and investment, and precluding Cuba from bringing revenue into the country.
As the United States has imposed increasingly severe sanctions over the past several months, President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have insisted that the measures are targeting the Cuban military and security forces. But looking closely at these measures, a different story emerges: These are sanctions that are designed to cripple the civilian economy of the country; to do so broadly, across every economic and social sector; and to do so indiscriminately, affecting the entire population. The most vulnerable parts of the population—infants, young children, the elderly, the ill, and the poor—have been impacted the worst.
Podcasts
Lawfare Daily: Emily Benson on What Economic Security Is, and How We Should Think About It:Peter Harrell sat down with Emily Benson to discuss what economic security actually is and how we should think about it. The two considered whether Europe needs to diversify away from U.S. technology because of U.S.-related economic security risks. They also discussed China and how the U.S. and China are wielding economic security tools against each other.
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