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

The Deconstruction of America’s Global Leadership
Stephen Bannon, President Donald Trump’s chief strategist, has made it clear that the Trump administration wants to see the “deconstruction of the administrative state.”…
Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in the UN: A New Approach for a Real Change?
A new United Nations report on sexual exploitation and abuse at the UN, along with its high profile media launch, may signal “a new approach” by the organization. It also reflects…

U.S. Arms Sale to Saudis Spells Legal Trouble for State Department Officials
In December, the Obama administration suspended a large weapon sale to Saudi Arabia due to concerns about widespread civilian casualties from Saudi airstrikes in Yemen. The Trump…

Targeting Yemen and the Repeal of Obama Constraints
Over at the New York Times, Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt have written an excellent article on the Trump Administration’s decision to declare three parts of Yemen “areas…

A Colleague’s Response to Finer and Malley on Obama’s Strategy Against Terrorism
The months since Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election have been a time for soul searching among those of us who served in the Obama Administration. Did our work…

Keeping K2 (European Human Rights Court Decision on Citizenship-Stripping) in Perspective
Yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg rejected as inadmissible an application by K2, a terror suspect born in Sudan but who acquired British citizenship…

Why a Broad Definition of “Violence” in Cyber Conflict is Unwise and Legally Unsound
International Humanitarian Law (IHL, aka the Law of Armed Conflict) is not intended to outlaw conflict. It is meant to regulate conflict in order to reduce its impact on civilians…

Ukraine Asks for Immediate Relief in Its Case Against Russia before the International Court of Justice
Further to our original post about Ukraine’s suit against Russia before the International Court of Justice, the ICJ is holding hearings this week on Ukraine’s request for provisional…

Three Problems with President Trump’s Guantánamo Tweet
In case you missed it, this morning’s tweetstorm from the White House began with this missive: 122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have…

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Administration Fact Sheets on New Executive Order Banning Travel to the US
Just Security has obtained two documents prepared by the Trump administration to help explain its revised travel ban executive order, which President Donald Trump signed Monday.…

Violence in Cyberspace: Are Disruptive Cyberspace Operations Legal under International Humanitarian Law?
It is already widely acknowledged that cyberspace has become the fifth domain of warfare, and militaries around the world are training various cyber units, who will be supporting…

Correcting the Record—Further Thoughts on the Intelligence Report on Civilian Casualties
In an exchange of posts over the past few weeks about the most recent casualty figures released by the Director of National Intelligence for theaters outside areas of active hostilities,…