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Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law: Home

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Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law is a section of the American Journal of InterCover of American Journal of International Lawnational Law that describes recent U.S. foreign policy and contains citations to related documentation.  The journal is published by the American Society of International Law and issued quarterly. Penn community members can access all journal issues through the Biddle Library's digital collection.

This guide provides direct access to the 2018-2020 Contemporary Practice sections, edited by Penn Carey Law School Professor, Jean Galbraith, and available in Penn’s Legal Scholarship Repository

 

Vol. 108 (2014) -  Vol. 111 (2017) Visit the University of Michigan Law site.

Vol. 115 (2021) -  Vol. 116 (2022) Visit the University of Virginia Law site.

Vol. 116, Issue 4 (Oct. 2022) - Present  Visit University of Cincinnati College of Law site.

Click Quarterly Issue Date to Access Full Text

Am. J. Int'l L. Vol. 114 (2020)

  • U.S. Supreme Court Holds that the New York Convention Does Not Displace Domestic Doctrines Permitting Nonsignatories to Enforce Arbitration Agreements

  • U.S. Supreme Court Rules that Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Can Sue Foreign States for Retroactive Punitive Damages Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

  • Trump Administration Submits Notice of U.S. Withdrawal from the World Health Organization Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

  • United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Enters into Force

  • President Trump Authorizes Economic Sanctions and Visa Restrictions Aimed at International Criminal Court

  • United States Gives Notice of Withdrawal from Treaty on Open Skies

  • President Trump Impeached and Acquitted of Charges Relating to His Conduct of Foreign Affairs

  • Trump Administration Further Restricts Asylum Seekers at the Southern Border Through the Migrant Protection Protocols, Asylum Cooperative Agreements, and COVID-19 Procedures

  • U.S. Department of Justice Indicts Venezuelan Leader Nicolás Maduro on Narcotrafficking Charges

  • U.S. Refusal to Appoint Members Renders WTO Appellate Body Unable to Hear New Appeals

  • Trump Administration Authorizes U.S. Military Use of Non-persistent Landmines

  • United States Signs Agreement with the Taliban, but Prospects for Its Full Implementation Remain Uncertain

  • Department of Justice Declines to Defend the Constitutionality of a Statute Criminalizing Female Genital Mutilation

  • Secretary of State Describes Israeli Settlements in the West Bank as “Not Per Se Inconsistent with International Law”

  • U.S. Trade Representative Holds Environmental Consultations with South Korea Regarding Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing

  • Congress Signals Concern About Human Rights Abuses in China

  • Issuing Several Pardons, President Trump Intervenes in Proceedings of U.S. Troops Charged or Convicted of Acts Amounting to War Crimes

  • U.S. Drone Strike in Iraq Kills Iranian Military Leader Qasem Soleimani

  • United States Creates the U.S. Space Command and the U.S. Space Force to Strengthen Military Capabilities in Space

  • United States and United Kingdom Sign the First Bilateral Agreement Pursuant to the CLOUD Act, Facilitating Cross-Border Access to Data

  • United States Remains in the Universal Postal Union, Rescinding Its Notice of Withdrawal

  • United States Gives Notice of Withdrawal from Paris Agreement on Climate Change

  • Trump Administration Continues Trade Negotiations with Major Trade Partners 

  • United States Withdraws Troops from Syria, Leaving Kurds Vulnerable

Am. J. Int'l L. Vol. 113 (2019)
  • President Trump “Unsigns” Arms Trade Treaty After Requesting Its Return from the Senate

  • Senate Gives Advice and Consent to Ratification of Four Bilateral Tax Treaties

  • United States Continues to Block New Appellate Body Members for the World Trade Organization, Risking the Collapse of the Appellate Process

  • United States Resists Efforts to Have the Arctic Council Make Climate-Related Statement

  • Trump Administration Takes Domestic and International Measures to Restrict Asylum

  • Secretary of State Establishes Commission on Unalienable Rights

  • Trump Administration’s Iran Policies Raise Questions About the Executive’s Authority to Use Force Against Iran

  • U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Habeas Case Brought by Guantánamo Bay Detainee Challenging His Continuing Detention

  • United States Recognizes the Opposition Government in Venezuela and Imposes Sanctions as Tensions Escalate

  • The State Department Designates Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization

  • United States Recognizes Israeli Sovereignty Over the Golan Heights

  • D.C. District Court Enters Over $300 Million Default Judgment Award Against Syria for the Death of Marie Colvin

  • The Trump Administration Revokes the ICC Prosecutor’s U.S. Visa Shortly Before the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber Declines to Authorize an Investigation into War Crimes in Afghanistan

  • United States Initiates Withdrawal from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

  • U.S. Military Undergoes Restructuring to Emphasize Cyber and Space Capabilities

  • The United States Resolves Its Request for Consultations Regarding Peru’s Environmental Obligations Under Bilateral Trade Agreement

  • Trump Administration Tightens Procedures with Respect to Asylum Seekers at the Southern Border

  • American Law Institute Releases a Volume of the Restatement Fourth of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States, Partially Revising the Restatement Third

  • United States Seeks Extradition of Huawei Official Charged with Violating Sanctions Against Iran

  • President Trump Announces U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Syria

  • United States Requests Consultations Regarding Peru’s Environmental Obligations Under Bilateral Trade Agreement

  • Federal Appellate Court Allows Hungarian Holocaust Survivors to Pursue Claims

  • Trump Administration Announces Withdrawal from Four International Agreements

  • Congress Passes Legislation Implementing the Marrakesh Treaty

  • Palestine Brings a Case Against the United States in the International Court of Justice at a Fraught Time for U.S.-Palestinian Relations

  • NAFTA Is Renegotiated and Signed by the United States

  • Congress Signals Concern Over U.S. Role in Aiding Saudi Arabia’s Activities in Yemen

  • Trump Administration Expresses Strong Disapproval of the International Criminal Court

  • Iran Initiates Suit Against the United States in the International Court of Justice, While Sanctions Take Effect

Am. J. Int'l L. Vol. 112 (2018)
  • Trump Administration Imposes Sanctions on Russia for Chemical Weapons Use, While More Generally Sending Mixed Signals Regarding NATO and Russia
  • U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Presidential Proclamation Restricting Entry of Individuals from Covered Countries

  • United States Withdraws from the UN Human Rights Council, Shortly After Receiving Criticism About Its Border Policy

  • Tariff-Based Disputes Continue to Characterize Trump Administration Trade Policies

  • D.C. Circuit Upholds Injunction Barring the Involuntary Transfer to an Unidentified Third Country of a U.S. Citizen Alleged to be an Enemy Combatant

  • Historic Meeting in Singapore Marks a Change in Relations Between the United States and North Korea and Generates a North Korean Commitment to Work Toward Denuclearization

  • Congress Enacts the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, Reshaping U.S. Law Governing Cross-Border Access to Data
  • Trump Administration Expels Russian Diplomats and Imposes Russia-Related Sanctions

  • U.S. Supreme Court Holds that a Provision of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act Does Not Lift Immunity from Attachment of Iranian Artifacts

  • U.S. Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Imports Go into Effect, Leading to Trade Disputes

  • United States Moves Forward with Tariffs and Requests WTO Consultations in Response to Certain Trade Practices by China

  • Developments Relating to U.S. Trade Negotiations—KORUS, NAFTA, and Trade Promotion Authority

  • President Trump Withdraws the United States from the Iran Deal and Announces the Reimposition of Sanctions

  • United States Bombs Syrian Government Facilities in Response to Chemical Weapons Use

  • Executive Branch Imposes Limited Russia-Related Sanctions After Statutory Deadlines 
  • Time-Limited Provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Reauthorized Through 2023 

  • President Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel

  • Trump Administration Ends Participation in Global Compact on Migration, Citing Concerns Regarding U.S. Sovereignty 

  • United States Reaches Agreement to Limit Arctic Fishing 

  • Trump Administration Continues Push to Reshape American Trade Relations by Imposing Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Imports

  • Responses by the United States to Attacks on the Rohingya in Burma  

  • President Trump Issues Executive Order Keeping the Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp Open

  • Tensions Rise Between the United States and North Korea
  • United States Lifts Economic Sanctions on Sudan

  • United States Imposes Broad Economic Sanctions on Venezuela After Constitutional Crisis

  • United States Gives Notice of Withdrawal from UNESCO, Citing Anti-Israel Bias

  • Presidential Proclamation Indefinitely Restricting Entry of Individuals from Designated Countries Is Fully Implemented Amid Ongoing Legal Challenges

  • U.S. District Court Convicts Mohammad Jabbateh of Perjury and Immigration Fraud for Concealing His Role as Former Liberian Warlord “Jungle Jabbah”

  • President Trump Refuses to Recertify Iran Nuclear Deal, But No Sanctions Are Reimposed on Iran