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
If US and UK Have Joined the Fighting in Yemen, What’s Their Duty to Investigate Alleged Saudi War Crimes?
Air strike in Sana’a, May 2015. Image by Ibrahem Qasim – Wikimedia If the United States and United Kingdom (have) become not just supporters of the Saudi-led coalition…
Military Attacks on “Hospitals Shields”: The Law Itself is Partly to Blame
The MSF Trauma Center in Kunduz, Afghanistan, following the US airstrike on the facility in October 2015. Image by Andrew Quilty. From the war in Afghanistan and the US-backed…
UK Government’s Response on Drone Strikes Policy Leaves British Parliament Wanting More
A heads-up to Just Security readers: The UK government has responded to the British Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) report on the use of drones for targeted…
International Armed Conflict in Syria and the (Lack of) Official Immunity for War Crimes
Last week, I wrote two posts at Just Security (here and here) on one of the legal consequences that would follow if the situation in Syria is an “international armed conflict”…
What Law Applies to the Resort to Force Against Non-State Actors? Filling the Void of “Internal Jus Ad Bellum”
What international legal rules determine when the U.S. government can resort to force against a non-state armed group such as the Khorasan Group, if that organization plans an…
Turkey’s US-Backed Operation in Syria Has Created an International Armed Conflict
Defense Secretary Ash Carter meets with Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işik during a U.N. Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting at Lancaster House in London, Sept. 8, 2016. DoD photo…
The Terminology of War and the Consequences for Executive Power
Just Security has hosted a number of interesting exchanges over the last week concerning the international and political implications of identifying the existence of an armed conflict.…
The Strategic Balance: A New US-Russian Zero Sum Game
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
Full Text: Saudi-Led Coalition’s Statement of Explanation on Funeral Hall Bombing in Yemen
On Saturday, an investigation team with the Saudi-led coalition operations in Yemen released a statement explaining its findings of the reasons that led to the coalition’s…
How Retaking Mosul Could Spell Disaster for Civilians
After over two grueling years living under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS), Mosul’s 1.2 million civilians may suffer yet more abuse when the government tries to retake…
Letter to the Editor from Professor Terry Gill on Classification of International Armed Conflict
Firstly, many thanks to Professor Adil Haque for reading my piece and for his thoughtful comments on it, both favorable and less so. Let me briefly reply to some of the points…
International Law and Proposed U.S. Responses to the D.N.C. Hack
In a short essay in Foreign Policy, retired Admiral James Stavridis addresses recent election season cyber operations against the Democratic National Party that the U.S. has attributed…