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
New ICC Arrest Warrant Indirectly Implicates Libyan Warlord, a U.S. Citizen
As I wrote yesterday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced last week that it had issued a new arrest warrant for Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli, a militia leader…
Federal Court: US Can Extradite Ex-El Salvador Official to Spain for Jesuits Massacre
On Monday, U.S. federal judge Terrence Boyle ruled that Inocente Orlando Montano Morales (Montano)—who headed El Salvador’s National Police as Vice Minister for Public Security…
The ICC’s New Libya Case: Extraterritorial Evidence for an Extraterritorial Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced last week that it had issued a new arrest warrant for Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli, a militia leader in Libya. Al-Werfalli…
Aggression, Armed Conflict, and the Right to Life: Does UN Human Rights Committee Get it Right?
Is it possible to respect the human right to life in the context of war? Or does war, by its very nature, involve the arbitrary deprivation of life? Last month, the United Nations…
A Legal and Policy Risk Analysis of the Erik Prince Plan to Privatize War in Afghanistan
Trump administration officials reportedly are considering a plan to privatize a significant portion of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Erik Prince, founder of the notorious security…
No, the U.S. Is Not Bombing ISIS Prisons on Some Theory Prison Labor Contributes to ISIS’s Economy
A recent post at Lawfare—titled “The Al-Mayadeen Prison Bombing and the Problem of War-Sustaining Targets”—suggests that the U.S. military may have struck a prison in Syria…
The Important Legal Questions Regarding the Now-Shuttered “Covert” Program to Arm Syrian Rebels
Mark Mazzetti, Adam Goldman and Michael Schmidt report: The end came quickly for one of the costliest covert action programs in the history of the C.I.A. During a White House briefing…
The National Security Law Podcast: Military Commissions, Military Officers in the Cabinet, the Laws of War, and More
This week’s episode certainly has a military theme. Professors Chesney and Vladeck start off with a surprisingly (or is it disturbingly?) lengthy discussion of the writ…
We Are Already in a State of Emergency
As Trump reissues his “lock her up” talk against Hillary Clinton and assaults the Justice Department, FBI, and media, the Brennan Center recently had a prescient meeting about…
Takeaways from this Week’s House AUMF Hearing—on Authorizing War Against ISIS
Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing entitled “Authorization for the Use of Force and Current Terrorist Threats” was the latest in a string of recent developments concerning…
The Danger of a Grand Bargain: The Wrong Peace Deal Could Mean Endless War in Yemen
The United Nations Security Council issued a presidential statement last month calling on all parties in Yemen’s internationalized civil war to “engage in peace talks in a…
Not So Fast: Trump Administration Continues U.S. Sanctions Toward Sudan
After months of speculation, the Trump administration has decided that the current U.S. sanctions against Sudan will remain in place – at least for now. The State Department…