In addition to its annual ILW conference in New York City, every year the American Branch sponsors regional conferences across the United States. On September 29-30, 2022, Case Western Reserve University School of Law hosted International Law Weekend–Midwest. The two-day conference focused on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine is changing international law and institutions.

Highlights of the conference included a dinner cruise on Lake Erie with an after-dinner speech by Kevin Nealer, Principal of the Scowcroft Group, and a performance by “Razing the Bar,” the Case Western Reserve faculty-student band; a morning keynote address by Sean Murphy, member of the U.N. International Law Commission; a lunch keynote address by Ambassador Beth van Schaack, U.S. Ambassador at Large for Global Criminal Justice; and a closing address by Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, former President of the International Criminal Court.

Panels featuring two-dozen members of the ABILA and other experts explored whether the world has entered a new Cold War, the role of international law in resolving the Russia/Ukraine conflict, the power shift caused by Security Council paralysis due to Russia’s use of the veto, information operations in the modern age, and a new era of international courts and tribunals. Videos of the conference speeches and panels are available online. Articles generated from the Conference will be published in Volume 55 of the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law (2023).