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
Whose Hype are You Going to Believe?: How Not to Evaluate the ISIL Threat to the U.S.
On Friday, Peter Bergen and David Sterman wrote an article for CNN Opinion entitled, “ISIS Threat to U.S. Mostly Hype.” (Bergen is also CNN’s national security analyst.)…
The Guns of September
[Editors’ Note: The following post is the first installment of a new feature, “Monday Reflections,” in which a different Just Security editor will take a longer…
Guest Post: DoD Directive 2310.01E
As Steve Vladeck noted yesterday, the Department of Defense is out with a new version of its Directive 2310.01E on detainee operations. Steve asks the big question: why now?…
The Very Strange New DoD Detainee Directive
On August 19, the Department of Defense apparently issued a new version of “Directive 2310.01E,” which, if you haven’t been scoring at home, is one of the central…
Targeting Al-Shabaab’s Godane is not the same as targeting Al-Shabaab
On Monday, the US military conducted an airstrike in Somalia, in which the primary target was reportedly Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader of the militant group Al-Shabaab. Based…
ISIL = Genocide?
As we have discussed, the United States has launched further military action in Iraq. These operations follow limited airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant…
International Law on Airstrikes against ISIS in Syria
The administration is actively considering the option of using military force against ISIS in Syria. As the New York Times editorial board states today: “The United States, however,…
Australia’s collateral damage in the US drone program
In the last few years there has been a hotly contested global debate about the civilian impact of the U.S. drone strike program and its moral and legal justifications. Despite…
Hope for Yemeni Detainees?
Over at Politico, Josh Gerstein reports that the Obama administration has broken its self-imposed suspension of transfers to Yemen and sent two long-term detainees from U.S. military…
Does the Administration consider the War Powers Resolution applicable in Iraq?
Some might think a recent report in the Washington Post provides significant information on the administration’s views on the applicability of the War Powers Resolution (WPR)…
Cert. petition in Ali accepts Justice Breyer’s invitation
As I posted back in April, Justice Breyer issued a statement respecting denial of certiorari in the case of Hussain v. Obama in which he more or less invited Guantánamo habeas…
UN Disarmament Board: New proposals to improve drone strike transparency and accountability
A new report of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (full text) contains a number of recommendations related to both autonomous weapons and current…