Armed Conflict
Law of Armed Conflict/IHL
1,634 Articles
The Yemen Raid—What Was Normal and Abnormal About the Process with Lessons for the Future
Over the past five days, accounts of Sunday’s special operations raid in Yemen have continued to evolve to a point where questions are now being raised as to the process that…
Rare U.S. Military Acknowledgment of Civilian Casualties in Yemen—Concerns about transparency persist
In a rare acknowledgment, the U.S. military admitted last night that civilians, including children, “were likely killed” in the commando raid in Yemen on Sunday. This acknowledgment…
Ukraine v. Russia: Before the International Court of Justice
With all the news around President Donald Trump taking office, and the mass protests, controversial executive orders, and pending lawsuits that followed, it may have escaped notice…
Trump’s First Counterterrorism Operations and the Prior Interagency Review Process
When a U.S. service member or unanticipated civilian dies in a U.S. military operation, hard questions need to be asked about what happened and how to prevent such tragedies in…
Trump’s “Safe Areas” in Syria — An Explainer on International Law
In an interview on Wednesday with ABC, President Donald Trump said he would “absolutely do safe zones in Syria.” The leaked draft of the Executive Order “Protecting the…
Draft EO on Detention and Interrogation: Update And Additional Concerns
As is now well-known, the White House has disclaimed the draft EO which appeared to open the door to torture and revival of the CIA detainee program. (Sean Spicer: This is “not…
Understanding Complicity: When the US Makes a “Substantial Contribution” to War Crimes Committed by Foreign Partners
With power comes responsibility. In their new duties, Trump administration officials will need to consider the legal hazards associated with supporting foreign military partners…
How News Media Can Get Misled by Tough Talk on Killing Terrorists
Image: US airstrike with 2,000lb bombs on ISIS bank in Mosul, Jan. 11, 2016 – CENTCOM Less than a half hour after Donald Trump took the oath of office on Friday, ABC News…
Obama Admin: Only One Civilian Killed by U.S. Outside of War Zones in 2016
On the eve of the inauguration of a new president, the Director of National Intelligence released a report (full text) that summarizes the number of military strikes taken by the…
A Right to Fight?
Do the laws of war give soldiers a right to fight, irrespective of their cause and free from other constraints? Or are the laws of war merely one set of constraints among others?…
New Symposium Scholarship on Human Shields
We have covered on these pages the legal and moral issues surrounding the use of human shields in contemporary armed conflict situations. The American Society of International…
Top 10 Gender and Security Developments of 2016
These developments and issues are not in any hierarchical order. They represent a broad swath of gender-related practices, actions, opportunities and setbacks that emerged in 2016.…