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.
3,526 Articles

National Security at the United Nations This Week (May 22-29)
(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,…

Jurisdiction at Guantanamo: The Case of Long-Term Complicity
The commission should stop asking whether the acts of facilitation occurred during an armed conflict. Rather, the commission should be asking whether the defendants facilitated…

Nuclear Arms Control, or a New Arms Race? Trump Seems Bent on the Latter.
More ambitious talks with the Russians and Chinese are a laudable goal. But they can be pursued smartly and without unnecessarily high risk.

How the U.N. Can Help Prevent the Spread of Proxy Conflicts
When the Security Council's most powerful five members control the international arms trade and also thwart regulation, another solution is needed.

Time to Move Beyond the Rhetoric of Protecting Civilians in Conflict
In his annual protection report to the United Nations Security Council, released this month, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a clear call to parties to conflict…

A Lost Phone Brings a Female ISIS Returnee to Trial for Crimes Against Humanity
Almost six years have passed since the genocide against the Yazidis, an ethno-religious minority group in Northern Iraq, and one of the first trials against a female ISIS returnee…

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.

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.

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 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…

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,…

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.