Ralph Janik
@ralphjanik.com
| International Law | EU | International Relations
| Assistant Professor @SFU Vienna
| everything is political
| Assistant Professor @SFU Vienna
| everything is political
Pinned
Ralph Janik
@ralphjanik.com
· Nov 16
Ok @mikeschmitt.bsky.social made me realise there was no proper international humanitarian law starter pack so I’ve created my first one. It is far from being complete so please feel free to mention yourself and/or others who should be included!
go.bsky.app/N6Bw1E7
go.bsky.app/N6Bw1E7
for the nerds out there: The first time the US recognized Danish sovereignty over Greenland was in 1916, after Denmark had ceded the Antilles to the US and was about to extend its sphere of influence (sic!) in Greenland (see P Weber, Das Haager Urteil im Grönlandkonflikt, 33 Friedens-Warte 1933 148)
In the 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement with Denmark, the US unambiguously recognized ‘the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark’ over Greenland.
Who owns Greenland?
Denmark’s claim is unimpeachable. In the 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement with Denmark, the US unambiguously recognizes ‘the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark’ over Greenland.
www.chathamhouse.org
January 12, 2026 at 2:53 PM
for the nerds out there: The first time the US recognized Danish sovereignty over Greenland was in 1916, after Denmark had ceded the Antilles to the US and was about to extend its sphere of influence (sic!) in Greenland (see P Weber, Das Haager Urteil im Grönlandkonflikt, 33 Friedens-Warte 1933 148)
Oder, anders gefragt: Wieso gibt es keine Beschwerden darüber, dass niemand gegen die unfassbaren Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Sudan demonstriert?
Wieso gibt es eigentlich keine Demo gegen die unfassbaren Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Sudan? [trauriger Sarcasm]
January 12, 2026 at 10:58 AM
Oder, anders gefragt: Wieso gibt es keine Beschwerden darüber, dass niemand gegen die unfassbaren Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Sudan demonstriert?
Wieso gibt es eigentlich keine Demo gegen die unfassbaren Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Sudan? [trauriger Sarcasm]
January 12, 2026 at 10:49 AM
Wieso gibt es eigentlich keine Demo gegen die unfassbaren Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Sudan? [trauriger Sarcasm]
Reposted by Ralph Janik
Baselessly smearing perceived political opponents as “terrorists” to justify state violence.
TAPPER: You called Renee Good a "domestic terrorist." Why did you not wait for an investigation?
NOEM: Everything I've said has been proven to be factual and the truth. This administration wants to operate in transparency.
T: What you said is not what happened
N: It absolutely is what happened
NOEM: Everything I've said has been proven to be factual and the truth. This administration wants to operate in transparency.
T: What you said is not what happened
N: It absolutely is what happened
January 11, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Baselessly smearing perceived political opponents as “terrorists” to justify state violence.
“By hiding demographic data, the Kremlin reveals its fear that transparent population statistics might empower minority voices or expose the true cost of its Ukrainian adventure. But secrecy is not strategy; it's a recipe for policy failure and social instability.”
Russia's Demographic Vanishing Act: A Warning From History | Russia Matters
www.russiamatters.org
January 11, 2026 at 11:28 PM
“By hiding demographic data, the Kremlin reveals its fear that transparent population statistics might empower minority voices or expose the true cost of its Ukrainian adventure. But secrecy is not strategy; it's a recipe for policy failure and social instability.”
Reposted by Ralph Janik
"Justices have been almost exclusively engaged with how to deal with laws that directly punish or forbid certain speech, which is analytically easier than trying to determine when in the conduct of the government’s business a comparable result to that of direct censorship should be disallowed."
Universities Need a New Defense
The authoritarian threat is growing. The old playbook won’t work.
www.chronicle.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:38 PM
"Justices have been almost exclusively engaged with how to deal with laws that directly punish or forbid certain speech, which is analytically easier than trying to determine when in the conduct of the government’s business a comparable result to that of direct censorship should be disallowed."
Reposted by Ralph Janik
Grönland ist meiner Meinung nach von der EU-Beistandspflicht geschützt. Wenn der US-Präsident es um jeden Preis – ob finanziell oder militärisch haben möchte, bin ich allein deshalb völkerrechtlich dazu verpflichtet, eine Podcastfolge dazu aufzunehmen. Auf allen Plattformen verfügbar (hoffentlich).
Krieg um Grönland?
open.spotify.com
January 11, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Grönland ist meiner Meinung nach von der EU-Beistandspflicht geschützt. Wenn der US-Präsident es um jeden Preis – ob finanziell oder militärisch haben möchte, bin ich allein deshalb völkerrechtlich dazu verpflichtet, eine Podcastfolge dazu aufzunehmen. Auf allen Plattformen verfügbar (hoffentlich).
Vielleicht liegt es auch daran, dass Österreich die Mullahs ohnehin nicht unterstützt. Wogegen genau würde man da demonstrieren wollen?
Ich vermisse die massendemos gegen die brutalen iranischen mullahs in europa. Vermutlich finden sie deshalb nicht statt weil die mullahs keine juden sind.
January 11, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Vielleicht liegt es auch daran, dass Österreich die Mullahs ohnehin nicht unterstützt. Wogegen genau würde man da demonstrieren wollen?
Sunday in Vienna: It's cold, it's snowy, it's dark and I have now finally submitted two final versions of papers: One on the (political) Return of Neutrality caused by the return of war. Both are available for download (for free!)
@ssrn.bsky.social
1/2
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
@ssrn.bsky.social
1/2
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The Return of Neutrality
Neutrality is caught in an inherent contradiction: On the one hand, it has been legally irrelevant for almost 100 years-the general prohibition of war and (late
papers.ssrn.com
January 11, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Sunday in Vienna: It's cold, it's snowy, it's dark and I have now finally submitted two final versions of papers: One on the (political) Return of Neutrality caused by the return of war. Both are available for download (for free!)
@ssrn.bsky.social
1/2
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
@ssrn.bsky.social
1/2
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
In democracies, it works the other way round. But the US is no longer a real democracy.
January 11, 2026 at 12:33 PM
In democracies, it works the other way round. But the US is no longer a real democracy.
Leider geht das anscheinend nur "mithilfe von Frauen". Weswegen zahlreiche Frauen echt zache Beziehungen durchleben, in denen Männer – und auch nur die, die dazu bereit sind – von gefühlstinkompetenten Wannabes zu beziehungsfähigen Partnern werden. Verständlich, das viele sich das nicht (mehr) antun
"Zur männlichen Selbstverpflichtung gehört es in meinen Augen, die in den eigenen Körper eingegangenen Gewaltformen zu bemerken und sich davon zu entfernen, sie abzubauen – so etwas wie die zivilisierende Aufgabe für Männlichkeit heute. Das geht nur mithilfe von Frauen."
Klaus Theweleit: "Diese Männer sind nicht zu Ende geboren"
Wir leben in einer undenkbaren Zeit, sagt der Kulturwissenschaftler Klaus Theweleit. Soldatische Körper, leere Sprache, dreiste Lügen: Da entsteht eine neue Wirklichkeit.
www.zeit.de
January 11, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Leider geht das anscheinend nur "mithilfe von Frauen". Weswegen zahlreiche Frauen echt zache Beziehungen durchleben, in denen Männer – und auch nur die, die dazu bereit sind – von gefühlstinkompetenten Wannabes zu beziehungsfähigen Partnern werden. Verständlich, das viele sich das nicht (mehr) antun
Interview with Martti Koskenniemi in @zeit.de. Everyone in the international law-sphere not only has read his work but also knows how to spell his name. And I think that says everything about how important he is.
www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...
www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...
Martti Koskenniemi: "Das Völkerrecht existiert, solange wir daran glauben"
Ist mit der Entführung Maduros das Völkerrecht am Ende? Keinesfalls, sagt der Jurist Martti Koskenniemi. Und im Falle Grönlands könne es noch sehr nützlich werden.
www.zeit.de
January 11, 2026 at 9:53 AM
Interview with Martti Koskenniemi in @zeit.de. Everyone in the international law-sphere not only has read his work but also knows how to spell his name. And I think that says everything about how important he is.
www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...
www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...
Denmark and the rest of the EU have to try to prevent a war with the US by convincing Trump that the 1951 US-Danish Agreement on Greenland was his idea.
"Under the 'Compromise Scenario', Denmark would agree to give Trump full military access to Greenland and deny access to Russia and China."
This is the status quo. We've had it since before Trump was born. It's the most open-ended "put whatever you want here" deal we have for any foreign territory.
This is the status quo. We've had it since before Trump was born. It's the most open-ended "put whatever you want here" deal we have for any foreign territory.
I think we’re at the Rubicon.
Who knows, of course, but it feels like what happens over the next few weeks will define the rest of our lives.
Who knows, of course, but it feels like what happens over the next few weeks will define the rest of our lives.
January 11, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Denmark and the rest of the EU have to try to prevent a war with the US by convincing Trump that the 1951 US-Danish Agreement on Greenland was his idea.
'This is how the Shah's ruthles dictatorship wanted to look like (it didn't. There is a reason why it was overthrown).
January 11, 2026 at 8:51 AM
'This is how the Shah's ruthles dictatorship wanted to look like (it didn't. There is a reason why it was overthrown).
"The present-day crisis of international law stems from the fact that states, especially the larger ones, do not regard its rules as binding upon them."
Miodrag Sukijasović, American Journal of International Law 1971. Gentle reminder that international law is always in crisis.
Miodrag Sukijasović, American Journal of International Law 1971. Gentle reminder that international law is always in crisis.
January 11, 2026 at 8:20 AM
"The present-day crisis of international law stems from the fact that states, especially the larger ones, do not regard its rules as binding upon them."
Miodrag Sukijasović, American Journal of International Law 1971. Gentle reminder that international law is always in crisis.
Miodrag Sukijasović, American Journal of International Law 1971. Gentle reminder that international law is always in crisis.
there's a lesson to be learned here. Authoritarian leaders can't be prevented from taking power by saying what they will do in office: Either the majority doesn't believe you or it simply doesn't care.
Kamala Harris at her closing campaign rally:
"Donald Trump intends to use the United States Military against American citizens who simply disagree with him."
"Donald Trump intends to use the United States Military against American citizens who simply disagree with him."
January 11, 2026 at 8:10 AM
there's a lesson to be learned here. Authoritarian leaders can't be prevented from taking power by saying what they will do in office: Either the majority doesn't believe you or it simply doesn't care.
"America’s Founders conceived of America in a certain way. It was a novus ordo seclorum, a “new order for the ages,” at the core of which lay a universalistic ethic ... The ethic in some nations may be that might makes right, but not in the United States. Until Donald Trump, that is."
Trump’s Folly
The United States has turned dark, aggressive, and lawless.
www.theatlantic.com
January 11, 2026 at 7:58 AM
"America’s Founders conceived of America in a certain way. It was a novus ordo seclorum, a “new order for the ages,” at the core of which lay a universalistic ethic ... The ethic in some nations may be that might makes right, but not in the United States. Until Donald Trump, that is."
Reposted by Ralph Janik
So an officer has his phone out recording obviously distracted, shoots a woman and calls her a “f’ing Bitch” and they think that HELPS the case?!?
January 9, 2026 at 8:20 PM
So an officer has his phone out recording obviously distracted, shoots a woman and calls her a “f’ing Bitch” and they think that HELPS the case?!?
Reposted by Ralph Janik
This is the heart of it.
Any press coverage that gullibly paints this partisan punitive campaign of retribution as "fighting crime" or "enforcing immigration laws" is actively complicit in a government campaign to punish dissent.
Any press coverage that gullibly paints this partisan punitive campaign of retribution as "fighting crime" or "enforcing immigration laws" is actively complicit in a government campaign to punish dissent.
whats missing from all the coverage is that the president is using the military to harass, brutalize and punish areas of the country that didnt vote for him
January 10, 2026 at 3:52 PM
This is the heart of it.
Any press coverage that gullibly paints this partisan punitive campaign of retribution as "fighting crime" or "enforcing immigration laws" is actively complicit in a government campaign to punish dissent.
Any press coverage that gullibly paints this partisan punitive campaign of retribution as "fighting crime" or "enforcing immigration laws" is actively complicit in a government campaign to punish dissent.
Reposted by Ralph Janik
In America you drop your kid off at school, get your brains blown out on the ride home, then the Vice President drops everything for a week to call you a terrorist, to slander your family, to protect the circumstances that led to your death so they can do it again. It is government by Alex Jones.
January 9, 2026 at 7:24 PM
In America you drop your kid off at school, get your brains blown out on the ride home, then the Vice President drops everything for a week to call you a terrorist, to slander your family, to protect the circumstances that led to your death so they can do it again. It is government by Alex Jones.
if the US were a Global South country...
January 10, 2026 at 7:14 PM
if the US were a Global South country...
An NBA coach and three point specialist is a more trustworthy source than the US government. What a failed states they have become. Sad and sickening.
"It's shameful that the government can come out and lie about what happened when there's video and witnesses who have all come out and disputed what the government is saying."
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was asked about the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. Here are his full comments:
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was asked about the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. Here are his full comments:
January 10, 2026 at 4:32 PM
An NBA coach and three point specialist is a more trustworthy source than the US government. What a failed states they have become. Sad and sickening.
"Zur Eskalation [bei der Erschießung einer völlig unschuldigen Frau in Minneapolis; die NZZ nennt es euphemistisch "Tödlicher ICE-Einsatz"] haben beide Lager beigetragen"
Was ist nur aus der NZZ geworden.
Was ist nur aus der NZZ geworden.
January 10, 2026 at 1:21 PM
"Zur Eskalation [bei der Erschießung einer völlig unschuldigen Frau in Minneapolis; die NZZ nennt es euphemistisch "Tödlicher ICE-Einsatz"] haben beide Lager beigetragen"
Was ist nur aus der NZZ geworden.
Was ist nur aus der NZZ geworden.
"The Gambia v Myanmar [case] also has broader significance. It provides the ICJ with a key and timely opportunity to clarify the law of genocide, especially in situations of armed conflict or counter-insurgency ... There is no question that South Africa and Israel will be watching closely."
The ICJ begins oral hearings in The Gambia v Myanmar on 12 January.
MICHAEL A. BECKER looks ahead to what is at stake as the Court hears arguments on genocidal intent, fact-finding, and remedies in its first genocide case brought by a non-injured state.
verfassungsblog.de/the-rohingya...
MICHAEL A. BECKER looks ahead to what is at stake as the Court hears arguments on genocidal intent, fact-finding, and remedies in its first genocide case brought by a non-injured state.
verfassungsblog.de/the-rohingya...
January 10, 2026 at 1:11 PM
"The Gambia v Myanmar [case] also has broader significance. It provides the ICJ with a key and timely opportunity to clarify the law of genocide, especially in situations of armed conflict or counter-insurgency ... There is no question that South Africa and Israel will be watching closely."