Belaboring the Obvious on Interpol, Part 2

Examining Trends in Political Unrest and Allegations of Interpol Abuse, with Yuriy Nemets, Forbes, August 2, 2019. "One of the striking patterns in cases received by the CCF is the way that some countries appear regularly among the top ten nations, whereas other countries appear suddenly."

Belaboring the Obvious on Interpol, Part 1

Does Political Unrest Contribute to INTERPOL Abuse?, with Yuriy Nemets, Forbes, August 2, 2019. "Because the CCF groundlessly refuses to release the information about member countries’ violations of INTERPOL’s rules, any study of this subject is fraught with many uncertainties, which the current authors acknowledge and emphasize. But it is clear, at least, that the public profile of INTERPOL abuse is higher than it was a decade ago. It is likely that this higher profile has led more people to take more cases, including meritorious ones, to the CCF. But it is also likely that the public profile of INTERPOL abuse is higher because, as the CCF numbers imply and as many journalists and analysts have concluded, there is simply more abuse now than there used to be. Even if this increase in abuse was driven partly, or significantly, by the creation of INTERPOL’s I-24/7 system, it is worth exploring other potential causes for it."

Britain's Activist Courts and the ATT

Britain’s Foolish Advocacy of the Arms Trade Treaty Bites Back, Forbes, June 25, 2019. "The British Court of Appeal has ruled that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful, on the grounds that British ministers had “made no concluded assessments of whether the Saudi-led coalition had committed violations of international humanitarian law in the past, during the Yemen conflict, and made no attempt to do so.” This ruling offers further proof, if any is needed at this point, that the primary – and indeed, the only – purpose of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is to constrain the Western democracies."

Operation Whoops I Shouldn't Have Said That

China Confesses To Abusing Interpol System In The United States, Forbes, June 25, 2019. "Meng Qingfeng’s open acknowledgement that China is using Interpol to procure back-door extraditions from the United States, while not genuinely new, is nonetheless shocking, and the U.S. should take immediate action to end this practice of collaborating with the police state of Communist China."

And the Abuse Keeps Coming

Interpol Abuse By Palestinian Authority And Others Shows Strengths And Weaknesses Of The System, Forbes, May 31, 2019. "Over the past few days, four cases of Interpol abuse, or attempted abuse, have demonstrated several of the weaknesses, and strengths, of the Interpol system. Interpol is supposed to be limited to ordinary crime. Interpol abuse happens when it is used for political, racial, religious, or military purposes."

Yet Again, No Definitions . . . .

Alleged Russian Violations Of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Make New Case For U.S. Withdrawal, Forbes, May 30, 2019. "It is impossible to say for certain whether or not Russia is violating the CTBT because while the CTBT bans explosive nuclear testing, it does not define that term. The U.S. interpretation is that the CTBT bans testing to a “zero yield” standard – because the CTBT bans “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion” -- but that is only the U.S. interpretation."

Neither the Power Nor the Glory

The End Of The Arms Trade Treaty, An End To Illusion, Forbes, May 7, 2019. "The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which President Donald Trump announced on April 26 that he would unsigned, is fundamentally unserious. It embodies the fantasy that the path to a better world rests in the piling up of unverifiable promises. Its illusions are a distraction from the problem it purportedly seeks to solve."

Seventh Time Lucky? Not Likely.

Russia Requests Interpol Action on Bill Browder, For Seventh Time, Forbes, April 30, 2019. "arlier this month the Russian Federation made its seventh request for action through Interpol against Bill Browder . The odds that Interpol will grant this request are very low, and the odds that Browder will actually be sent to Russia from his home in Britain are far lower. But the request nonetheless illustrates Russia’s assiduous efforts to abuse the Interpol system, and the need to take action to deter abuse."

I Told You So

Reflections on President Trump’s Unsigning of the Arms Trade Treaty, Forbes, April 30, 2019. "On Friday, President Trump announced that he will unsign the Arms Trade Treaty . The reactions tell you all you need to know about the treaty and its supporters. But to me, the biggest surprise — though it shouldn’t have been a surprise— was the way that the Treaty was assumed to be beyond criticism, and obviously a good thing, merely because it’s an example of multilateral diplomacy."

Interpol's Fundamental Flaw

Interpol CCF’s Latest Annual Report Highlights Fundamental Flaw in the System, Forbes, March 31, 2019. "The Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (CCF), which is responsible for insuring that Interpol complies with its own rules, has published its annual report on its activities in 2017. Though any report is better than none, the report disappointingly fails to provide full transparency on the CCF’s activities by not identifying the nations that are actually responsible for requesting Red Notices that are later deleted for not complying with Interpol’s rules. That said, the report does make it clear that Interpol’s system has a fundamental flaw that allows nations to repeatedly abuse the rules."

The ATF Gets Worse Under Trump

Why Is the ATF Making Secret Rules for the Firearms Industry?, "Anyone who says that the firearms industry just hates the ATF because the ATF is reining in the cowboys by private letter is, frankly, ignorant. The firearms industry is already one of the most heavily-regulated in the United States. Anyone who works in this industry and doesn’t follow the rules can get in big trouble very quickly. What the firearms industry wants is for ATF policies and interpretations to be open and transparent so as to promote an even playing field."

How Much Do We Pay Together?

How Large is the Democratic World's Financial Contribution to Interpol?, Forbes, February 28, 2019. "t seems likely that, given the size of the Foundation’s gifts (which amount to 5.74% of Interpol’s total revenue in 2017), the democratic share is less than their 84.15% share of the assessed contributions. A reasonable estimate is that the democracies are responsible for between 75% and 80% of Interpol’s funding , and that UAE controls the single largest non-democratic share (about 3.5 times larger than China’s contributions)."

How Much Do We Pay?

How Large Is the U.S. Budgetary Contribution to Interpol, Forbes, February 28, 2019. "All told, therefore, U.S. payments to Interpol likely amount annually to around 17 million Euros, or $19 million. That is around 15.5 percent of Interpol’s total operating expenses, which seems a reasonable estimate of the share of Interpol’s budget paid by the U.S."

Ignorance in the Eye of the Beholder

Are Brexit Supporters Ignorant?, Forbes, January 31, 2019. "One of the common tropes of opposition to Brexit — Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) as the result of the national referendum held in June 2016 — is that voters who supported remaining in the EU are better informed than those who voted to leave. This claim has a distinct feeling of sour grapes: no one would have much cared why anyone voted for Brexit if Remain had won. Arguments that Remain is the smart take are primarily about discrediting Brexit."

The Right Path in ITAR Reform

No, Firearm Exports Aren’t Being Decontrolled, Forbes, January 30, 2019. "Over the next month, expect the left-wing press to tell you that the Trump administration, with its usual disregard for all that is right and sensible, is decontrolling exports of firearms, which will inevitably result in a flood of American firearms washing around the world and allow any terrorist or dictator to buy from the American market. All this is a flat-out falsehood."

ICE's Interpol Errors

ICE Wrongly Continues to Use Interpol Red Notices for Targeting, Forbes, December 19, 2018. "Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it had arrested 105 people in an operation “targeting criminal aliens and public safety threats.” The agency described four of those arrested as having “Interpol warrants.” These arrests are part of a larger, disturbing pattern of ICE reliance on Interpol Red Notices to target individuals for arrest. It’s a practice which runs a serious risk of allowing Vladimir Putin to pick his victims in the United States."

The Palestinians Get Started With Interpol Abuse

The Palestinian Abuse of Interpol Has Begun, Forbes, December 14, 2018. "In “How the United States Should Respond to Palestinian Membership in Interpol,” a lengthy paper published in May, I pointed out that the Palestinian Authority said it wanted to get into Interpol for political reasons, and that it had repeatedly given notice of its intention to abuse Interpol. In other words, the Palestinians want to use Interpol for political purposes. I also pointed out that, while Palestinian membership would pose a risk to Israeli officials and, more seriously, to the friends of Israel around the world, “the most likely targets are in fact Palestinian opponents of the Palestinian Authority.” The risk to Interpol, I predicted, was that it would become part of the Palestinian knife fight for control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and for the succession to the aging Palestinian president for life Mahmoud Abbas. That prediction has come true."

The Importance of Interpol's Executive Committee

Putin’s Man Isn’t The Only Candidate Who Matters At Interpol, Forbes, November 20, 2018. "Understandably, all of the press coverage of this week’s meeting of the Interpol General Assembly in Dubai has focused on the possibility that Vladimir Putin’s candidate, Russian abuser-in-chief Alexander Prokopchuk, will be elected the next President of Interpol. But that’s not the only election that matters."

The Wrong Man to Lead Interpol

The Election of Russia’s Abuser-in-Chief to Lead Interpol Would Raise Fundamental Questions, Forbes, November 18, 2018. "Reports in the British press indicate that Alexander Prokopchuk, who has served in Russia’s Interior Ministry since 2003 and as Interpol’s Vice-Chair for Europe since 2016, will be elected as the new president of Interpol at the meeting of the Interpol General Assembly now taking place in Dubai. If accurate, this report raises fundamental questions for all democratic nations in Interpol."

Order A Salad, Get The Menu

Why the Arms Trade Treaty Is No Answer for the Saudi Problem, Forbes, October 31, 2018. "As part of the reaction to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and as part of the wider left-wing preference for siding with Iran instead of Saudi Arabia, progressives who were already thoroughly in favor of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) are arguing that Western governments should ratify it, or uphold it, in order to cut off arms sales to the Saudis. This is a terrible argument."