Message From the Chair:

This issue marks the beginning of a new year that is devoted to accomplishing the purposes of the UN Decade. Just about one year ago, the Spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced its plans to convene a Third Hague Peace Conference in 1999 at The Hague. Whether this Conference will occur, however, is a matter of the political will of the international community of States. The Hague Convention Steering Committee has advised me that it will keep us informed regarding developments, which I will report to you upon receipt.

National responses to the UN Decade highlighted in prior Newsletters could be characterized as less than effervescent. One illustration is the exchange of correspondence between our group and various Congres- sional representatives (discussed/reprinted in the last two issues of this Newsletter September & June 1995). Nothing precludes us, however, from considering the role, if any, that our group might play in the proposed end- of-Decade Conference (see Business Meeting Agenda below).

I will thus use this message to extend a call to our members to do two things, in anticipation of the Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law March 27-30, 1996 Washington, DC at the ANA Hotel:

(1) Contact the Chair upon receipt of this Newsletter with any suggestions that you may have for developing the role of the ASIL's UN Decade Interest Group ("UNDIG") in the UN Decade; and
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(2) Plan to attend the UNDIG meeting (see tentative agenda discussed below).

Those of you who are unable to attend the Annual Meeting can provide a very useful service to the UNDIG by responding to my request (#1 above) at your earliest convenience. Certainly, all of us want to be associated with an active organization that continues to explore methods for achieving the objectives of the UN Decade. If I receive a sufficient response, I will undertake another mailing to you between now and the Annual Meeting in March. This particular exchange would assist me in my presentation at the meeting of Interest Group officers, whereat I must report the events of the UNDIG since the last ASIL Annual Meeting.

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News of Members

Antonio Paulo Cachapuz de Medeiros, Professor of International Law at Pontificia Universidade, Porto Alegre, Brazil has authored a Spanish-language book: O Poder de Celebrar Tratados [Treaty- Making Power] (Sergio Antonio Fabris, 1995). Interested members should contact the Newsletter Editor (address on page 1 above) for an English-language abstract.

Howard Meyer, of New York City, has published a brief critique of the "Contract with America" entitled America's Contract with the World, in the Newsletter of the Peace Studies Association, Summer/1995 issue (comparing it with the U.S. contract with the UN fifty years ago).

Ved Nanda, University of Denver Vice Provost & Evans University Professor, has authored another book: International Environmental Law & Policy (Transnational, 1995). It is reviewed below in the Read- er's Corner segment of this Newsletter.

David Krieger, President, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, published an op-ed piece (in addition to the one appearing in this issue of the UNDIG Newsletter) entitled Perspective: Compassion and Tolerance in the Santa Barbara News-Press, Sunday, Dec. 10, 1995) . G.

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At our Group's 1995 business meeting in New York, our informal steering committee suggested that our Newsletter carry a restatement of the essential goals of the United Nations Decade of International Law in each issue. Thus, new members (and seasoned ones as well) can readily recall the reason for our existence. The Decade has four essential objectives:

• promoting acceptance of the substantive principles of International Law;
  
  
promoting peaceful settlement of disputes, including greater use of the International Court of Justice (ICJ);


• encouraging progressive development of International Law and its codification;
  
  
• encouraging the teaching, study, dissemination, and wider acceptance of International Law.
  

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Your Turn

This final segment of each Newsletter provides the opportunity to comment on any topic of interest to the UN Decade Interest Group (affectionately dubbed "UNDIG"). It has been a very useful source for planning meeting agenda, new issues to be addressed by UNDIG, and the like. Please take a moment to jot down any comments, constructive criticisms, or suggestions.. Send E-Mail toEditor, UN Decade Newsletter

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Copyright 1997 American Society of International Law