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.
3,583 Articles
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…
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.
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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.
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…
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."
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.