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Armed Conflict

Just Security’s expert authors provide analysis on the legal, policy, and strategic dimensions of armed conflict, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war, counterterrorism operations, conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, and other armed conflicts across the globe, with a focus on international humanitarian law, war crimes and accountability, mitigating and remedying civilian harm, and the humanitarian impacts of warfare.

Civilian HarmIsrael-Hamas WarRussia-UkraineSudanLaw of Armed Conflict/IHLUse of Force
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3,331 Articles
A U.S. Air Force MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), awaits a mission at an air base in the Persian Gulf region on January 7, 2016.

What a Few Cakes Say About the US Drone Program

Fondant creations on cakes - yes cakes - provide a rare window into a largely closed culture of national security policymaking. Their creation in 2013, publication, and re-emergence…
Sep. 16, 2020
Members of a displaced family sit outside a UNHCR tent in the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp in the al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria on August 25, 2020, where families of Islamic State (IS) foreign fighters are held.

Repatriating ISIS Family Members: A North Macedonia Model?

One of the smallest members of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS has adopted a comprehensive plan to bring home its citizens from squalid camps in Syria.
Sep. 14, 2020 , and 1 more
A member of the Afghan Air Force 777 Special Mission Wing looks out of an Mi-17 helicopter during a training mission on September 13, 2017 outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: End Endless War

For nearly 20 years, successive U.S. administrations have adopted a costly war-based approach to national security and counterterrorism policy that has no clear endgame in sight.…
Sep. 11, 2020 , and 6 more
A protester holds a sign reading, “End Torture” at a rally to "demand Congressional action to stop torture" on Capitol Hill March 10, 2008 in Washington, DC.

Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: Uphold the Prohibition on Torture

A full reckoning for state-sanctioned American torture remains unfinished. The Obama administration took important steps towards fulfilling US obligations but fell short of what…
Sep. 11, 2020 , and 4 more

Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: End Unlawful, Secret, and Unaccountable Use of Lethal Force

A core component of post-9/11 counterterrorism policy has been the use of secretive and unaccountable killings of terrorism suspects. The killings must stop. Here's how the president…
Sep. 11, 2020 , and 4 more
US Army guards watch over detainees at Camp Delta, 12 September 2002, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: Close Guantanamo and End Indefinite Detention

Closing Guantanamo responsibly is not an intractable problem, the checkered history of prior efforts notwithstanding. It can be done, and in relatively short order, if decision-making…
Sep. 11, 2020 , and 4 more
Razor wire tops the fence of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: Introduction

One year from today marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11. A president addressing the nation on such a solemn occasion should be able to tell the American people not only that there…
Sep. 11, 2020 , and 1 more
A U.S. Army helicopter flies outside of Camp Shorab on a flight to Camp Post on September 11, 2017 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

On 9/11, Interrogating the Assumptions that Undergird the “Forever War”

To find a path out of the Forever War, we must begin by examining the assumptions that have underpinned our fight all along.
Sep. 11, 2020
France's president Emmanuel Macron (L) and Chad's president Idriss Deby shake hands as they hold a press conference at the presidential palace in N'Djamena, on December 23, 2018.

Chad’s Counterterrorism Support Abroad Drives Repression and Discontent at Home

The international community should ensure Chad’s military participation in countering terrorism does not come at the expense of freedoms for its citizens.
Sep. 10, 2020
Neomi Rao, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, testifies during a Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on February 5, 2019 in Washington, DC.

The D.C. Circuit, Conspiracy, and the Guantanamo Military Commissions: Third Time’s the Charm?

Eleven years since Congress authorized the third generation of post-9/11 Guantanamo military commissions, the substantive law governing them remains in doubt. The case of Bahlul…
Sep. 4, 2020
A woman carries jerry cans to fill them up with water at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp for the displaced where families of Islamic State (IS) foreign fighters are held, in the al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria on December 9, 2019.

Despite US Veto, Desperate ISIS Suspects and Families Remain at Risk

There is good news and bad news from the recent UN Security Council vote on a dangerously flawed draft resolution on so-called “foreign terrorist fighters."
Sep. 4, 2020
Pedestrians look on as a tank is transported on a truck in the streets of N'Djamena on January 3, 2020, upon their return after a months-long mission fighting Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria.

Counterterrorism Assistance to Chad for the Sahel: The Price the People Pay

With an influx of international security aid has come diplomatic cover for government corruption, impunity, and the consolidation of power.
Sep. 2, 2020
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