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Although international law has figured prominently in many disputes around actions of the U.S. military, the precise relationship between international law and the President's war powers has gone largely unexplored. This Article seeks to clarify one important aspect of that relationship: the role of international law in determining the scope of Congress's general authorizations for the use of force. In the seminal case of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, the plurality opinion used international law to interpret the authorization by Congress for the use of force, but did so without adequate attention to the content or interpretive function of international law. This Article identifies and defends a better approach: courts should presume that general authorizations for the use of force do not empower the President to violate international law. Such a presumption is consistent with long-standing tools of statutory interpretation reflected in the Charming Betsy canon, maximizes the presumed preferences of Congress, advances separation of powers values, and promotes normative values that favor the use of international law as an interpretive tool.

Much has been written about the need to build local capacities in emergency and postemergency situations. Many relief programs, however, remain characterized by externality: in their funding, accountabilities, approach to management, and dependence upon expatriate staff. Reality often flies in the face of stated policy and good intentions. In reality, strengthening local capacity is easier said than done, and there are real tradeoffs between outsiders doing something right now in the midst of an emergency, on the one hand, and building longer term local skills, on the other.

Preface / Mauro Bussani & Lukas Heckendorn Urscheler -- Foreword / Lukas Heckendorn Urscheler -- Justice reform : the experience of the World Bank / Hassane Cissé -- The impact of the ILO "decent work" standard on national labour laws / Eve Landau -- International water norms and principles : impacts on law and policy development in India / Philippe Cullet -- The role of international environmental standards within the EU / Astrid Epiney -- The diversity of human rights instruments and their impact in Europe / Giorgio Malinverni -- The impact of international human rights law in China / Harro von Senger -- Legal reforms in the context of the financial crisis : the case of Portugal / Dário Moura Vicente -- The influence of EU legislation and international legal instruments on Swiss contract law / Franz Werro -- The impact of foreign legal models on company law reform in Russia / Alexander Komarov -- The impact of transnational comparativism on law in Latin America / Jorge L. Esquirol -- International and foreign factors in legal reform : risk and opportunities / H. Patrick Glenn -- Beyond legal comparison / Sabino Cassese -- Afterword / Mauro Bussani

Putting the humanitarian-development nexus into practice, aid organisations and donors pay most attention to camp populations in protracted refugee situations (PRS). This Paper argues that synergies arise when development aid redefines and expands the area of humanitarian
needs regarding developmental objectives and instruments rather than bolstering the mainstream activities of humanitarian actors. Drawing on the case of Colombia, the argument of this
Paper is threefold: First, it shows how the conditions to qualify refugees and IDPs as aid recipients must be extended to include forcibly immobilised persons. The Paper understands 'forcibly immobilised persons' as individuals who are forced to stay in the same place for lack of alternatives or constraints on their movement (e.g. through armed groups). Strikingly, forcibly immobilised persons have so far usually been overlooked as persons in need, although they face similar
hardships as refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). This is why this Paper proposes to replace the classical concept of spatial displacement with a model of displacement that includes both in situ immobilised persons (on the spot) and ex situ immobilised persons (immobilised after initial spatial movement). Second, the Paper argues that individual needs, such as the need for protection, rather than circumstances, should be decisive for aid eligibility. Whether a situation
is categorised as "war", for instance, is a highly politicised question and hence not a reliable indicator - whereas a needs-based approach is. Third, the Paper draws on an in-depth analysis of confined communities in Colombia to show that forcibly immobilised persons - like IDPs and refugees - often require humanitarian and development aid, thus showing clear examples for how the nexus could work - as it already does in part. Overall, this Paper thus proposes a reconceptualisation of the humanitarian-development nexus to ensure a more targeted reach for persons in need.

The international standards for inclusive education policy and practice, such as the Salamanca Framework or the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, emerge from a predominantly western-centric, resource-rich model of service provision that is often incompatible with the lived realities of people with disabilities in non-western contexts. Drawing on post-colonial and critical political theory scholarship, this paper explores the development of inclusive education in Cambodia within the context of international development and the aid agenda. It analyzes the "goodness of fit" of international standards espoused by international donors and consultants on the overall implementation of inclusive education policy and programs, as well as on specific practices, such as developing individualized education plans and classifying disabilities. (DIPF/Orig.) ; Die internationalen Standards für integrative Bildungspolitik und Praxis, wie beispielsweise das Salamanca-Framework oder die UN-Konvention über die Rechte der Menschen mit Behinderungen, gehen in erster Linie von westlich zentrierten, ressourcenreichen Leistungserbringungsmodellen aus, welche häufig mit den gewohnten Gegebenheiten von Menschen mit Behinderung in nicht westlichen Kontexten unvereinbar sind. Diese Arbeit untersucht die Entwicklung von integrativer Bildung in Kambodscha im Rahmen der internationalen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und der Entwicklungshilfeagenda auf der Grundlage der postkolonialen und kritisch politischen Wissenschaftstheorie. Die Arbeit analysiert die "Anpassungsgüte" von internationalen Standards, welche von internationalen Geldgebern und Beratern bei der umfassenden Umsetzung integrativer Bildungspolitik und Programmen, sowie bei bestimmten Verfahren unterstützt werden, wie beispielsweise bei der Entwicklung von Bildungsplänen und Einstufungen von Behinderungen. (DIPF/Orig.)

The level of violence seen during transitions from authoritarian to democratic rule varies substantially. Recently, Tunisia experienced an almost bloodless transition, while in Libya the attempt to oust the Gadhafi regime ended in a civil war. This paper looks at the dynamics of democratic transitions, and attempts to explain why some become extremely violent while others progress peacefully. Specifically, the paper looks at the potential role of international governmental organizations (IGOs) for constraining or altering the behavior of non-democratic regimes, thereby influencing regime transitions. It argues that, by alleviating commitment problems between the outgoing regime and the new elites, and by imposing sanctions that reduce an incumbent regime's ability to reap the benefits of office, IGOs increase the likelihood of seeing a peaceful transition to democracy. However, the paper also argues that non-democratic leaders should anticipate this, and therefore that regimes that are members of highly interventionist IGOs should be less likely to liberalize at all. The paper finds evidence in favor of the proposition that IGOs increase the likelihood of a peaceful regime transition, and that non-democratic regimes that are members of highly interventionist IGOs anticipate being constrained by these organizations, and therefore are more reluctant to liberalize in the first place.