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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
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives for the NATO summit, at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on July 11, 2018.

Can Turkey be Expelled from NATO? It’s Legally Possible, Whether or Not Politically Prudent

Overall, the absence of a suspension and expulsion mechanism in the North Atlantic Treaty does not prevent the North Atlantic Council from suspending or terminating the membership…
Oct. 15, 2019
Air Force Reserve Capt. Matthew Lee Stanley prepares to have a blood sample taken by Air Force Sgt. Tracey Harris on June 3, 2003 at Barksdale Air Force Base.

Whistleblowing in Washington: Lessons Learned and Unlearned

A compelling first-hand account illustrates the institutional headwinds facing whistleblowers. To create the space they need to help increase accountability in government will…
Oct. 14, 2019
The Netherlands' Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok speaks during a debate about Socialist Party (SP) party chairman Murat Memis at the Senate, in The Hague, on December 26, 2019.

The Netherlands Releases a Tour de Force on International Law in Cyberspace: Analysis

The Dutch make a major contribution to interpretation and application of international law in cyberspace with careful legal analysis on topics ranging from sovereignty to the use…
Oct. 14, 2019
Security Council meeting on The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

National Security at the United Nations This Week

An emergency Security Council meeting on Turkey's offensive in Syria, another peacekeeper casualty in Mali, the UN's cash crisis, and more.
Oct. 11, 2019
Supporters of former secretary to the ministry of defence and presidential candidate, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, celebrate outside Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal in Colombo on October 4, 2019, after a petition challenging his Sri Lankan nationality was taken to court and then dismissed.

Sri Lankan War Criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa May Escape Accountability Yet Again, This Time by Running for President

Recent developments in a pair of human rights cases in U.S. federal court against former Sri Lankan Defense Minister and current presidential hopeful Gotabaya (“Gota”) Rajapakse…
Oct. 9, 2019
Razor wire tops the fence of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay on October 23, 2016 at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

18 Years After 9/11, Why Is Guantánamo Still Open?

That a child born on that day the planes hit would by now have gained the right to vote, but there has yet to be a trial of the alleged attackers, serves to highlight how painfully…
Oct. 9, 2019
Sara al-Abdullah, a volunteer caring for 24 orphaned children reportedly linked with foreign fighters of the Islamic State (IS) group, carries one of them at a camp in the northern Syrian village of Ain Issa, on September 26, 2019.

Returning Foreign Fighters and Their Families Takes on New Urgency After Trump’s Syria Decision

As countries contemplate what appears to be the potential for an abrupt and unruly dismantling of the SDF camps in Syria, and the likely security, ethical and moral dilemmas that…
Oct. 8, 2019
A Sudanese demonstrator waves his hands as he stands on the hood of a security forces' vehicle, urging others not to cross the security barrier, during a protest near the presidential palace in Sudan's capital Khartoum on September 12, 2019, calling for the appointment of a new permanent chief of judiciary and prosecutor general.

Bringing the Rule of Law to Sudan

The country's new civilian ministers of justice and foreign affairs outlined their plans at the United Nations and appealed for international support before the window of opportunity…
Oct. 1, 2019
Binary code lit up in blue lights

An Overview of International Humanitarian Law in France’s New Cyber Document

France's positions explained - with translations of key text - on important issues like the meaning of "attack" and the application of the principles of distinction and proportionality…
Sep. 27, 2019
US soldiers aim their guns during a ceremony on the outskirts of Kabul on March 15, 2012.

Do Moral Judgments of War Support the Principle of Combatant Equality?: What Empirical Studies Tells Us

Are our moral intuitions about war in line with the crucial principle of combatant equality in the law of armed conflict? A moral psychology study begins mapping out and explaining…
Sep. 24, 2019 and
A Saudi female journalist films damage at a market for vehicles on August 27, 2016 in the Saudi border city of Najran, a week after it was struck by a rocket fired from Yemen.

The Yemen Project: Open Source Investigations and the Law of War

An unprecedented open source investigation aids the legal analysis of allegedly unlawful strikes by the Saudi-led coalition, but also has limits in reaching legal conclusions under…
Sep. 23, 2019
A Security Council vote at the United Nations, 12 September, 2003.

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,…
Sep. 20, 2019
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