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 Sony Hack: Norms and North Korea
In statements on the Sony hack on Friday, both Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama highlighted the need to develop norms for state behavior in cyberspace. Tying the…

International Law and Cyber Attacks: Sony v. North Korea
It could only happen in the movies. A major Hollywood company produces a film starring well-known comedic actors which involves the tongue-in-cheek assassination of the leader…
Fed Prosecutors: al-Libi Admitted al-Qaeda Membership, Was bin Laden Pen Pal
Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruquai, the alleged al-Qaeda operative from Libya better known by the nomme de guerre Abu Anas al-Libi, has admitted being a charter member of al-Qaeda, according…
A Guantánamo (Numerical) Milestone, and What It Means…
Although public and media attention has been, understandably, focused on this morning’s release of the SSCI Torture Report, another piece of national security-related news…
International Justice: Week in Review
As we all await the release of the executive summary of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s report on CIA torture, I’d like to offer a brief interlude to consider…
The Torture Convention & Appendix M of the Army Field Manual on Interrogations
We are on the eve of the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s report on the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation program. Although this report will…
The US Needs a New International Strategy for Cyberspace
Editors’ Note: The following post is the latest installment of our weekly feature, “Monday Reflections,” in which a different Just Security editor will take an in-depth…
New Paths to Accountability for Crimes in Syria and Iraq (Including ICC Jurisdiction Over Foreign Fighters)
Horrific crimes in Syria during the Syrian Civil War and more recent ones in Iraq have led to widespread frustration at the present lack of a clear accountability mechanism. …
Due Process and Detention at Guantanamo: Closing the Constitutional Loopholes
The D.C. Circuit recently heard argument in Al Bahlul v. United States, where the defendant has made a series of constitutional challenges to the Guantanamo military commissions. …
Does International Law Matter?
Editors’ Note: The following post is the ninth installment of a new feature, “Monday Reflections,” in which a different Just Security editor will take an in-depth look…
Gideon’s Army at Guantanamo
Despite enormous logistical and legal hurdles, defense attorneys for high value detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison, say they press on for the judgment of history,…
UN Panel: Blackwater Convictions are the “Exception, not the Rule”
Last week’s Blackwater convictions highlight an urgent need for an international treaty ensuring that private security contractors are held accountable if they commit human rights…