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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 WarLaw of Armed Conflict/IHLRussia-UkraineSudanUse of Force
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3,314 Articles
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan (R) and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attend the Refugee Summit Islamabad to mark 40 years of hosting Afghan refugee in Islamabad on February 17, 2020.

National Security at the United Nations This Week

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,…
Feb. 21, 2020
Sudanese protesters wait at a train station in Khartoum to board a train to Atbara on December 19, 2019 to celebrate the one-year anniversary of their protest movement that brought down Omar al-Bashir last April after a thirty-year rule.

Sudan Takes Two Big Steps toward Normalizing Relations: USS Cole and Bashir

Sudan’s transitional government took two significant steps toward improving its international standing and normalizing relations with the United States by first agreeing for…
Feb. 21, 2020
Demonstrators holds up placards and banners while demonstrating, asking for Yahya Jammeh, the former President of the Gambia, to be brought to justice, in Banjul on January 25, 2020. One of the signs says, "No Place for Enforced Disappearance in Gambia."

Senators Call for Prosecution of Gambian Paramilitary Fighter in US Custody

Rare opportunity to criminally prosecute a person implicated in extremely grave human rights abuses in a U.S. court.
Feb. 21, 2020
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (C) along with Army Commander Shavendra Silva (L) and Navy Chief Piyal De Silva stand to attention during Sri Lanka's 72nd Independence Day celebrations in Colombo on February 4, 2020.

U.S. Issues Travel Ban on Sri Lankan Military Leader

The U.S. State Department’s announcement of a travel ban on Sri Lankan Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, current commander of the Sri Lankan Army and acting chief of the Defense…
Feb. 20, 2020
An Afghan orthopaedic technician makes artificial limbs in a workshop at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hospital for war victims and the disabled in Kabul.

When Professionalism Mattered: Dissent Against U.S. Policy on Landmines

President Trump's retaliation against principled dissenters and his jettisoning of longstanding U.S. policy on landmines converge in a look back to see how another administration…
Feb. 18, 2020
Flags of USA and Iran

White House ‘1264 Notice’ and Novel Legal Claims for Military Action Against Iran

"The administration’s positions amount to a fundamental revision of existing legal foundations for military action against Iran that can be undertaken by this and future presidents."
Feb. 14, 2020
Razor wire lines in front of the US flag at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Guantanamo’s Ugly Taint on U.S. Diplomacy

Watching the Guantanamo proceedings from behind the courtroom's safety glass brings to mind a different prison, halfway around the world, in Egypt.
Feb. 13, 2020
The damaged interior of the hospital in which the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) medical charity operated is seen on October 13, 2015 following an air strike in the northern city of Kunduz.

Why the US Military Needs to Rethink How It Investigates Civilian Harm

A new report analyzed a total of 228 investigations into reported civilian harm in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria between 2002 and 2015.
Feb. 13, 2020
Sudan's deposed military ruler Omar al-Bashir stands in a defendant's cage during the opening of his corruption trial in Khartoum on August 19, 2019.

Sudan Announces Intention to Have al-Bashir and Others “Appear” Before the ICC

Sudan's transitional government said al-Bashir and others indicted by the ICC for atrocities in Darfur must "appear" before the Court, but whether extraditions will occur remains…
Feb. 13, 2020
Two girls sit in a north Tehran coffee shop using Facebook on a laptop and looking at a mobile phone on October 13, 2013.

Instagram Content Removals in Iran Highlight Questions Over Facebook’s New Oversight Board

Facebook’s recent release of the bylaws for its new Oversight Board, which will be charged with reviewing takedown decisions by Facebook and Instagram, came on the heels of reports…
Feb. 12, 2020
A Turkish military convoy passes through the town of Binnish in Syrias northwestern province of Idlib, near the Syria-Turkey border on February 10, 2020.

American Policy Paralysis in the Middle East Strikes Idlib

While observers of the Middle East focus on the spiraling escalation of US-Iran tensions, a humanitarian crisis with potentially far greater consequences is rapidly unfolding in…
Feb. 11, 2020
Two refugees, a Honduran child and her mother, sit on the ground of the border bridge after being denied entry from Mexico into the U.S. on June 25, 2018 in Brownsville, Texas. The mother covers her face and the child with her sweater, and two border agents lean against a wall in the background.

Never Mind “America First” — Trump’s Newly Expanded Immigration Ban Puts Americans Last

Nationality-based restrictions will separate families and are the wrong tool to promote public safety and national security.
Feb. 7, 2020
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