Join the MWP on our 2nd Lecture of 2026
In early 2026, international co-existence faced a series of threats as (or more) severe than any since the creation of the United Nations. The ongoing genocide in Gaza (and Palestine more generally) and a lawless invasion of Venezuela are the most visible signs of the current crisis. Mass slaughter in El Fasher (North Darfur) and other atrocities continue to occur. The first two (Gaza and Venezuela), however, strike differently insofar as much responsibility for both lies with the United States and its powerful allies in the Global North. The complicated and contradictory role of these powers as guardians of the international legal order has come undone. To make things more clear (if also more ugly), the discourse of the Trump administration that has accompanied the invasion of Venezuela and the seizure of its head of state has been visceral, shockingly aggressive, and dismissive of any legal or ethical norms that might limit American interventionsim, whether it involve invasions of Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Greenland or elsewhere. The hemisphere is ours, boast official government websites. Meanwhile, European authorities have been unable or unwilling to condemn the evident abuses of the UN Charter; their failure on Venezuela as evident as it has been with regard to Israel's abuses in Palestine (all in stark contrast to Europe's constant vilification--if legitimate--of Russian aggression in Ukraine). The current crisis has not spared the institutions of Global North states, whose governments have failed to uphold international standards. Rather, these institutions have largely capitulated to financial and state pressures: US universities have used distorted claims of anti-semitism as a basis to suppress speech and dismissed dissident academics; law firms and media have reached embarassing settlements with the Trump administration; UK and German authorities have arrested peaceful demonstrators in multiple filmed incidents.
In this context, what obligations do the university and those in the university have? What historical parallels should we turn to now to guide our action? How should we act to ensure not only justice and peace at the global level, but also the minimal conditions in our societies that allow universities to thrive or even exist.
About the speaker:
James (Jim) Cavallaro is the Executive Director of the University Network for Human Rights. He is a Visiting Professor at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs and teaches at Columbia Law School. Prior to co-founding the University Network, he served as a professor of law at Stanford Law School (2011-2019) and a clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School (2002-2011). In June 2013, Cavallaro was elected to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. He served as President of that body from 2016-2017. Cavallaro has been actively involved in the defense of rights, critical reflection on the human rights movement, and the promotion of accountability at the international level. In 1994, he opened a joint office for Human Rights Watch and the Center for Justice and International Law in Rio de Janeiro and served as director, overseeing research, reporting, and litigation before the Inter-American system’s human rights bodies. In 1999, he founded the Global Justice Center, a leading Brazilian human rights NGO. Cavallaro has authored or co-authored dozens of books, reports, and articles on human rights issues, a list of which is available below. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. A list of over 100 of his publications is available here: James Cavallaro's Publications — University Network for Human Rights .
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