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
How News Media Can Get Misled by Tough Talk on Killing Terrorists
Image: US airstrike with 2,000lb bombs on ISIS bank in Mosul, Jan. 11, 2016 – CENTCOM Less than a half hour after Donald Trump took the oath of office on Friday, ABC News…
Obama Admin: Only One Civilian Killed by U.S. Outside of War Zones in 2016
On the eve of the inauguration of a new president, the Director of National Intelligence released a report (full text) that summarizes the number of military strikes taken by the…
A Right to Fight?
Do the laws of war give soldiers a right to fight, irrespective of their cause and free from other constraints? Or are the laws of war merely one set of constraints among others?…
UK Supreme Court Judgment on Extra-Territorial Detention in Iraq and Afghanistan
Today, the UK Supreme Court gave judgment (full text) in the joined appeals of Al Waheed v Ministry of Defence and Serdar Mohammed v Ministry of Defence (in which I represented…
UK Supreme Court Issues Two Major Decisions—On cooperation with CIA interrogations and on military detention
On Tuesday, the UK Supreme Court issued two important judgments, which will affect the power of the British government to carry out certain national security policies and, in turn,…
The United Kingdom’s “Modern Law of Self-Defence”—Part III
On Wednesday, Jeremy Wright QC MP, the Attorney General of the United Kingdom, delivered an important speech laying out his government’s view of the international law governing…
Kreß & Barriga’s The Crime of Aggression: A Commentary
In a singular contribution to the theory and practice of international criminal law, Claus Kreß and Stefan Barriga have edited a massive, two volume, 1488 page, 53 chapter commentary…
The United Kingdom’s “Modern Law of Self-Defence”—Part II
In a previous post, I argued that a recent speech by Jeremy Wright QC MP, the Attorney General of the United Kingdom, left quite unclear whether the lawfulness of anticipatory…
New Symposium Scholarship on Human Shields
We have covered on these pages the legal and moral issues surrounding the use of human shields in contemporary armed conflict situations. The American Society of International…
The United Kingdom’s “Modern Law of Self-Defence”—Part I
On Wednesday, Jeremy Wright QC MP, the Attorney General of the United Kingdom, gave a speech intended to clarify his government’s understanding of the international law framework…
A Must Read Speech: UK Attorney General on Use of Force, Imminence, and International Law
In an important speech today (available here), the UK Attorney General, Jeremy Wright, MP, lays out the UK’s views on the use of force against non-state actors, the grounds…
Top 10 Gender and Security Developments of 2016
These developments and issues are not in any hierarchical order. They represent a broad swath of gender-related practices, actions, opportunities and setbacks that emerged in 2016.…