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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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3,340 Articles
Members of Venezuelan army stand at a table showing weapons to a crowd of civilian onlookers.

As Trump Presses for a Post-Maduro Venezuela: Questions, Lessons, and Warnings for the Aftermath

As the Trump administration positions for possible military strikes, it would be wise to prepare for looming governance and stability challenges in Venezuela.
Nov. 24, 2025 and
U.S. President Donald Trump (C), Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (L), and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (R) sit behind a long table, smiling, as they hold up copies of the signed agreement in front of members of the press.

With New Transit Routes and Investment, the U.S. Aims to Counter China and Russia in the South Caucasus and Central Asia

How the U.S.-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal and the TRIPP trade route are reshaping Eurasia’s economic and security alliances, from the Caspian to Europe and beyond.
Nov. 24, 2025
Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Kirill Dmitriev during a meeting with Steve Witkoff (left foreground)

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Has Options in Response to Latest U.S.-Russian ‘Peace Plan’

The plan is a mess, but Ukrainians are right to try to work with the draft rather than reject it out of hand.
Nov. 21, 2025
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks down stairs

From Secret Law (2001-2024) to None at All (2025-present)

The Trump administration's lethal strikes are the apotheosis of the last quarter century's often always secret and often unreviewable executive branch legal reasoning.
Nov. 21, 2025
A collage of images featuring scenes from the Russia - Ukraine War.

Just Security’s Russia–Ukraine War Archive

A catalog of over 100 articles (many with Ukrainian translations) on the Russia Ukraine War -- law, diplomacy, policy options, and more.
Nov. 21, 2025 and
Members of the Delegation of Nicaragua, at the opening of the hearings of Nicaragua v. Germany at the International Court of Justice on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Frank Van Beek, via UN Photo, Courtesy of the ICJ).

Nicaragua v. Germany: Why Israel is Not an Indispensable Third Party

Analysis of Germany's argument before the International Court of Justice in Gaza case.
Nov. 20, 2025
Workers wearing hard hats stand in a desert landscape under and around a long tube-like structure suspended from cables overhead. The tube appears to have differently sized and shaped compartments and equipment inside, and extending from the near end in the direction of the right side of the photo are numerous sets of cables in different colors, possibly connected to something offscreen.

Trump’s Nuclear Testing Remark Was a Signal — Not a Strategy

The science is sound, the stockpile is strong, and the call to test a nuclear bomb has no technical foundation. Resuming testing would not make America safer.
Nov. 18, 2025
Screenshot of the mock legal review by Daniel Maurer.

Hypothetical Legal Review of Narcotrafficking Strikes

A mock “operational legal review” depicting what a staff judge advocate’s advice should have been prior to the first reported strike on an alleged drug trafficking vessel.
Nov. 18, 2025
A member of the Philippine Navy looks out at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer Takanami during a joint maritime exercise in the South China Sea on June 14, 2025. (Photo by STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images)

Much Work to Do and No Time to Waste: Mitigating Civilian Harm in an Asia-Pacific Conflict

Civilian harm is not entirely avoidable during armed conflict, but it can be anticipated and its severity limited. In Asia-Pacific, this depends entirely on steps taken now.
Nov. 17, 2025
(L/R) South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Mexico's Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, Canada's Foreign Minister Anita Anand, Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Britain's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, and India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar gather for a photo during the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, on November 12, 2025. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The International Law Obligation of States to Stop Intelligence Support for U.S. Boat Strikes

The only way States can avoid complicity in “arbitrary killings” under international human rights law is to refrain from sharing intelligence that, in part, enables them.
Nov. 17, 2025 , and 1 more
An injured boy lays on his back in a van as two others attend to his wounds.

The Political Theater Behind Trump’s “Guns-a-Blazing” Nigeria Threat

Trump’s threat of military intervention in Nigeria may be intended more for domestic audiences and wouldn't address the drivers of the country's conflict.
Nov. 14, 2025
U.S. President Clinton, Russian President Yeltsin, and Ukrainian President Kravchuk engage in a three-way handshake against a backdrop of a richly decorated room with fringed drapes and a chandelier-like wall sconce in the background.

Ukraine’s Ironclad Security Is Inseparable from Peace

After abandoning nuclear arms for the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine faces existential war -- proof that security “assurances” alone won't be enough now.
Nov. 14, 2025
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