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

New DoD Policy on Amends Needs to Address Transparency Gap
New information from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) reveals a previously unrecognized transparency gap in the U.S. military’s efforts to acknowledge and address civilian…

Trump Endorses U.S. Citizen-Turned Libyan Warlord, Despite Video Evidence of Haftar’s Ordering War Crimes
"While American news networks were gripped by blanket coverage of the Mueller report on Friday, the White House released a statement describing a most unusual and supportive phone…

Serb ‘Auxiliary Force’ Escalates Threats to Bosnia’s Stability
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik risks plunging Bosnia, and with it the volatile Western Balkans, into the region’s worst security crisis since the end of the Yugoslav Wars.

National Security at the United Nations This Week
Editors’ 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,…

Al-Nashiri III: A No Good, Very Bad Day for U.S. Military Commissions
A stunning, unanimous opinion of the DC Court of Appeals throws out every single pretrial order issued over the past 3 1/2 years in case of Al-Nashiri. What this says about the…

What is a War Crime?
A substantive approach to defining "war crimes" as serious violations of international humanitarian law could help bring a measure of justice in Syria and beyond.

Barr’s Playbook: He Misled Congress When Omitting Parts of Justice Dep’t Memo in 1989
When Bill Barr was head of Office of Legal Counsel, he gave Congress the legal conclusions and reasoning of an important Justice Department memo but left out major portions of…

Julian Assange and Omar al-Bashir: What Comes Next for Two Global Fugitives?
Yesterday was a breathtaking one for global criminal justice. First, British police arrested Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London and then, just hours later, the…

National Security at the United Nations This Week
The ICC rejects prosecutor Bensouda's request to open an investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, the UN calls for a ceasefire amid escalations in Libya, and Sudanese President…

Ouster of Sudan’s Bashir Is Only the Beginning
After 30 years in power, Sudan President Omar al-Bashir is finally out. But the coming days, weeks, and months will be precarious: concerns over the military takeover, a proliferation…

Accountability for War Crimes in Syria: The “Criminalization” Confusion
A new approach to defining what constitutes a "war crime" is needed to ensure domestic courts can provide accountability for war crimes committed in Syria.

Transparency on Civilian Harm in Somalia Matters – Not Just to Americans
"Under the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations, much of the commentary on the use of lethal force in counterterrorism operations has focused on the importance of transparency…