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.

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3,316 Articles
A doctor speaks with a patient during an online consultation session at a hospital in Shenyang in China's northeastern Liaoning province on February 4, 2020.

Oxford Statement on the International Law Protections Against Cyber Operations Targeting the Health Care Sector

In advance of Friday, May 22 Arria-Formula meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Protesters from several humanitarian associations lay on the ground, on February 6, 2020 at Cherbourg harbor, during an action to prevent the docking of the Bahri Yanbu, a ship flying the flag of Saudi Arabia accused of transporting weapons for the conflict in Yemen.

How States Supporting Armed Proxies Can Reduce Civilian Casualties and Protracted Hostilities

Guardrails in providing security assistance and arms exports don’t just protect human rights but also advance national security.
Turkish military tanks drive past the town of Ariha on the M4 highway in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on May 7, 2020.

Turkey Opened the Door to the European Court of Human Rights for Syrian Victims

With Turkey's occupation of parts of northern Syria, a new venue may now be available to victims: the European Court of Human Rights.
The wreckage of the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam embassy in 1998.

The Significance of the Supreme Court’s Opati Decision for States and Companies Sued for Terrorism in U.S. Courts

On Monday, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Opati v. Republic of Sudan opening the door to victims of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam to pursue…
Afghan security personnel arrive at the site of an attack outside a hospital in Kabul on May 12, 2020.

Beyond Reproach: Legal, Political, and Social Implications of the Recent Attack on a Maternity Ward in Afghanistan

Childbirth is a trepidatious experience for every expectant mother anywhere in the world. Imagine, then, being in a maternity ward that comes under a blaze of gunfire. On May 12,…
Arrest poster of Felicien Kabuga. Reads, "Felicien Kabuga Arrested: 16/05/2020"

And Then There Were Seven: Rwandan Félicien Kabuga Arrested in France

The case illustrates the long arm of justice, via international tribunals created in the 1990s after the genocides in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations on a video screen for a virtural meeting.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (May 8-15)

(Editor’s Note: This is the latest in Just Security’s weekly series keeping readers up to date on developments at the United Nations at the intersection of national security,…
A Yemeni man looks at graffiti protesting against US drone strikes on September 19, 2018 in Sana'a, Yemen.

U.S. Fails to Acknowledge Killing Yemeni Civilians

A Yemen-based human rights organization has documented the impact of U.S. air strikes for the last seven years. The results contradict DOD's report.
Two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors fly above Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, Feb. 2, 2018.

The Fatal Flaw in DOD’s Latest Civilian Casualties Report

Lawmakers and even the Trump administration have increasingly expressed concern about the United States waging an “endless war,” and among those concerns is the impact on civilians…
A medical staff at Damascus Countryside Specialised Hospital holds a placard reading, "Assad Sees no Red Lines, Only Green Lights!!"condemning a suspected chemical weapons attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun.

The Syrian War’s Forcing Effect on International Law

A new book by Scharf, Sterio, and Williams demonstrates how global legal standards have shifted with the increasing complexity of war.
A sign reading, "Office of Military Commissions Expeditionary Legal Complex Guantanamo Bay, Cuba" stands close to where pre-trial hearings are being held for the detainees at the military prison on June 25, 2013 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Getting It Wrong: The 9/11 Military Commission and the Justiciability of Armed Conflict

In an apparent effort to preserve its own jurisdiction while proceeding towards trial, the 9/11 military commission has made a hash of its armed conflict jurisprudence. It has…
A young child has their temperature taken by a medical professional using a no-touch forehead thermometer as part of a COVID-19 screening conducted at a Military Police checkpoint in central Yemen (Ta’izz Governorate) in April 2020. The child does not wear a face mask.

Could the Coronavirus Put an End to the War in Yemen?

The prospects, however difficult, may be more promising now than at any time in this grinding, five-year conflict. But it will require more US diplomacy.
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