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At present, the United States institution handling international agreements is replete with uncertainty about the precise role of different branches of the government and the rules government actors are to follow. The result is inferior democratic rule and a worse bargaining position in world affairs. This article surveys the institution's current problems with treaties, congressional-executive agreements, and sole executive agreements. It explains the judicial response and why historical practice has not led to a resolution, but an exacerbation of problems. It lays out the costs of these problems and articulates how cementing the Senate's role in agreements would greatly augment both democarcy and security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under Minnesota territorial law starting in 1849, and later under the state constitution, Indians of mixed Native American and European ancestry held American citizenship, voted in elections, and served in the political office. This racial and political situation in the Upper Midwest was unexpected in Jacksonian America and was the result of the conflation of notions of whiteness, citizenship, and being "civilized." Despite Jackson's removal policy, mixed-ancestry Indians in the region overwhelmingly supported the Democratic party and white Democratic officials considered mixed-ancestry Indians to be "white" because of their adaption to Western culture, or what white Americans considered "civilized." In the aftermath of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, locals no longer honored the citizenship rights of mixed-ancestry Indians, signaling the death of an unusual political coalition between Indians and Democrats in Jacksonian America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Albertan oil sands provide the battlegrounds for the most recent iteration of the centuries-old conflict between the rights of indigenous peoples and the economic priorities of colonizing Europeans in North America. In the Pacific Northwest United States, that conflict has played out in a series of federal court cases stretching back to the 1970s. In the "Culverts Case" of 2016, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a grant of injunctive relief against the state of Washington, which had been found to violate several tribes' treaty-protected fishing rights by constructing and maintaining culverts that impede river flow. After comparing the treatment of, and protection for, indigenous rights in the United States and Canada, this work examines how the Culverts Case can provide a model for the resolution of the ongoing conflicts between indigenous rights and oil sands development in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US tax rules are extraordinarily complex, and they include many unwelcome surprises. One such surprise arises when an alien discovers that he or she has unwittingly become a US resident. An alien's unexpected status as a US tax resident may give rise to substantial tax liabilities and, worse yet, exposure to life-altering penalties. This article discusses the US residence trap and its application to Canadian snowbirds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The end of President Barack Obama's first term provides an opportunity to assess what the administration's "strategic rebalancing" toward and within the Asia-Pacific region (sometimes called the "Asian Pivot" or "Back to Asia" policy) has accomplished as well as what challenges and unmet opportunities remain. The administration has launched several successful multinational diplomatic initiatives in the region to supplement U.S. bilateral ties with key Asian partners; relations with ASEAN have clearly improved. The economic dimension of the Pivot has made progress as seen by the growth of support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. U.S. efforts to promote democracy and human rights in Asia have proved far less successful, except perhaps for Myanmar, where the political transition remains a work in progress. The U.S. military has managed to establish a broader presence in the region, especially in Australia and Southeast Asia. U.S. officials have sought to impart new energy into the five existing formal U.S. bilateral defense alliances in Asia--with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and South Korea. But the main problem with the pivot has been the inability to overcome Chinese anxiety about U.S. rebalancing, which has complicated their cooperation over North Korea and other issues. Fortunately, relations between the United States and South Korea are also strong. The ROK is becoming an important U.S. partner in several dimensions of the Pivot, though ROK-U.S. differences over North Korea might emerge with the advent of a new government in Seoul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Internal Revenue Service has issued proposed regulations that would treat a disregarded entity as a "person" for purposes of applying the us "anti-conduit rules." Therefore, any transaction involving a disregarded entity will be taken into account in applying such rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the benefits currently available under the tax treaty between Canada and the United States in respect of amounts paid by a Canadian unlimited liability company (ULC) to a US resident will be eliminated by virtue of the fifth protocol to the treaty as of January 1, 2010. The loss of these Canadian tax benefits may significantly influence the continuing viability of ULCs in cross-border US tax planning. Consequently, US shareholders of a Canadian u LC must determine whether the prospect of this additional Canadian tax cost warrants a restructuring of the ULC. The authors of this article explore the historical significance of ULCs and assess the benefits and risks of certain restructuring alternatives from both a Canadian and a US tax perspective. They conclude that there is no single solution that can be applied uniformly by all taxpayers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new fifth protocol to the Canada-US income tax treaty, which was signed on September 21, 2007, includes a number of important changes including, most notably, the elimination of withholding tax on most cross-border interest payments. The fifth protocol also includes provisions intended to clarify the treatment of hybrid entities, such as us limited liability companies and Nova Scotia unlimited liability companies, under the treaty. Unfortunately, the hybrid entity provisions are ambiguous in several respects and raise significant questions. The authors discuss the issues raised by the hybrid entity provisions in the protocol and propose some approaches to interpreting those provisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]