Ibrahim Gassama
Biography
Prior to joining the Oregon law faculty, Gassama worked on human rights, foreign policy, and international economic development issues for TransAfrica, the African American lobby for Africa and the Caribbean. Gassama worked on Nelson Mandela’s first visit to the United States and in 1994, he coordinated the recruitment, training, and deployment of U.S. based nongovernmental observers participating in South Africa's first democratic election. Gassama supervised the preparation of reports on the work of the South African Independent Electoral Commission and participated in two election-observer delegations composed of American and African lawyers. Gassama has also worked on human rights and economic development issues affecting various other countries in Africa and the Caribbean.
Professor Gassama's current academic focus is on tort law as well as the interrelationships among human rights, environmental degradation and economic development.
Publications
Recent Articles
Dealing with the World As It Is: Reimagining Collective International Responsibility By Ibrahim J. Gassama
The Incoherence and Functional Incompetence of International Law: Toward a New Paradigm of Human Relationship by Ibrahim J. Gassama
Book
Tort Law & Practice, 4th ed. (2011) (with Teachers Manual). Vetri, Levine, Vogel & Gassama.
Law Reviews and Book Chapters
Bandung 1955: The Deceit and Conceit of Post-Colonial Leadership, in Bandung, Global History and International Law: Critical Pasts and Pending Futures (forthcoming, Fakhri et. al. eds. 2015).
Jon Jacobson and the Law of the Sea: An Imaginative and Disciplined Brilliance, (forthcoming, JELL, Winter 2015).
Transnational Justice Advocacy, in Critical Justice: Identities, Theory, and Action (co-editor, forthcoming 2016, West Academic Press).
Ballots and Bullets: The Right to Democratic Governance in International Law After The Egyptian Coup, 32 Wisconsin Int’l L. J. 4 (2015)
The Incoherence and Functional Incompetence of International Law: Toward a New Paradigm of Human Relationship, 37 Fordham Int’l L. J. 1 (2013)
Dealing With The World As It Is: Reimagining Collective International Responsibility, 12 Wash. U. Glob. Stu. L. Rev. 4 (2013)
A World Made of Violence and Misery: Human Rights As A Failed Project of Liberal Internationalism, 37 Brook. J. Int’l. L. 2 (2012)
Chapter 19: “Abnormally Dangerous Activities.” Torts (Oregon State Bar Legal Publications, 2012)
In Memoriam-Keith Aoki, 45 UC Davis L. Rev. 5 (2012)
Unbound by Law: Keith Aoki As Our Avatar (with Steven W. Bender), 90 Or. l. rev. 5 (2012)
Good Bananas, Bad Bananas: Hard Lessons From A Soft War, Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting, American Society of International Law (ASIL) (2010).
Scholarship As AutoBiography: An Appreciation of Dom Vetri’s Quest for Harmony, 88 Or. L. Rev. 1 (2009).
Africa and the Politics of Destruction: A Critical Re-examination of Neocolonialism and Its Consequences, 10 Or. Rev. Int’l. L. 2 (2008).
International Law at a Grotian Moment: The Invasion of Iraq in Context, 18 Emory Int’l. L. Rev. 1 (2004).
Confronting Globalization: Lessons from the Banana Wars and the Seattle Protests, 81 Or. L. Rev. 3 (2002).
Transnational Critical Race Scholarship: Transcending Ethnic and National Chauvinism in the Era of Globalization, Mich. J. of Race and Law, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Fall 1999).
Forward: Citizenship and Its Discontents (with Keith Aoki and Robert Chang), 76 Or. L. Rev. 207 (1997).
Safeguarding the Democratic Entitlement: A Proposal for UN Involvement in National Politics, 30 Cornell Int’l. L. J. 287 (1997).
Reaffirming Faith in the Dignity of Each Human Being: The United Nations, NGO’s and Apartheid, 19 Fordham Int’l. L. J. 1464 (1996).
World Order in the Post-Cold War Era: The Relevance and Role of the United Nations After Fifty Years, 20 Brook. J. Int’l. L. 255 (1994).
C. Clyde Ferguson: A Short Reflection (In Memoriam: C. Clyde Ferguson, Jr.) 97 Harv. L. Rev. 1271 (1984).
International Law Consulting Reports
Sierra Leone: Legal and Judicial Sector Assessment (The World Bank, Legal Vice Presidency, May 2004). (Co-author, Report on Access to Law and Justice in Sierra Leone).
Forty Years of Hostility is Enough-Consequences of the United States’ Economic Embargo on Cuba. (Report of the TransAfrica Forum Delegation, 1999).
Human Rights and Economic Development in Haiti (1998). (Report of TransAfrica Forum Fact-Finding Mission to Haiti).
Bananas Not Just A Trade Issue: Jeopardizing Democracy and U.S. National Interest in the Caribbean (1997). (Report of Eminent Persons Group Mission to Jamaica, Dominica, Antigua, and St. Lucia).
Selected Opinion Articles
Military’s Ouster of Morsi Poorly Rationalized, The Register-Guard, July 10, 2013.
Drones and the Perpetual Myth of Civilized War, The Register-Guard, Feb. 17, 2013.
Happy Talk In A World of Misery, The Register-Guard, Oct. 23, 2011. Reprinted as, It’s A Miserable World After All, The Oregonian, Oct.23, 2011.
A Welcome Turn to Pragmatism in International Diplomacy, The Oregonian, Mar. 26, 2011.
Human Rights Must Include Freedom From Economic Discrimination, The Register-Guard, Sept. 26, 2005 (with L. Hope Lewis).
A Hunch Not Enough To Justify Police Action, The Register-Guard, Dec. 2, 2004.
Invasion of Iraq Was Wrong On Principle, The Register-Guard, July 11, 2004.
WTO Appellate Body Issues First Decision – Against the United States, Oregon State Bar Newsletter, International Law section, Vol. X, No. II, July 1996.
With Calm, Dignity, Mandela’s People Came, The Register-Guard, May 5, 1994.
South Africans Look to Life After Election, The Oregonian, April 13, 1994.
U.S. Wavering on Somalia Disturbing, The Register-Guard, Oct. 19, 1993.