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.
3,544 Articles
The Coming Hicks and Khadr Appeals: Yet Another Military Commission Headache
As various media outlets reported earlier this week, Australian David Hicks–one of the first detainees charged and convicted (via plea) under the Military Commissions Act…
The End of the M23, Will Justice Follow?
In the last few days, we have witnessed some important and welcome developments in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—a region of the world in desperate need of some…
The NDAA: Congress’ Opportunity to Take First Steps Towards Closing Gitmo
The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan next year will mark a milestone on the path to ending the so-called “war on terror.” But as a practical matter, what will…
Pakistan Test Fires Missile to Take Down Drones
It might have been easy to doubt the veracity of the Pakistan government’s public protestations against US drone strikes in light of secret agreements between the two governments…
Bond v. United States and a Plain Statement Rule
The old adage, “bad facts make bad law,” threatens to reassert itself in an especially damaging fashion in Bond v. United States, a case now before the Supreme Court in which…
Observations on the Oral Argument in Bond
In light of the current efforts of the United States to ensure that even Syria, a nonparty to the treaty, strictly complies with the prohibitions of the Chemical Weapons Convention–and…
Future of Gitmo to Take Center Stage Later This Month
With much attention in recent weeks focused on the NSA collection activities or the U.S. drone program, it can be easy to allow other important national security issues to become…
Report to the General Assembly on Armed Drones and the Right to Life (or drones should follow the law, not the other way around)
[Editorial note: Last week, the United Nations discussed two major reports on drones. Just Security’s coverage included posts by Philip Alston, Ryan Goodman (here, here), Kevin…
“The Juice Wasn’t Worth the Squeeze” in Kyrgyzstan Fuel Contracts
The Pentagon recently announced the end of its use of the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan for logistical support of the war in Afghanistan. The arrangement unraveled due to…
Belonging to a Party to a Non-International Armed Conflict: A Reply to Kevin Jon Heller [Updated]
In a recent post, I argued that an unexplored and independent legal basis exists for the US practice of targeting “associated forces” of al-Qaeda: the rules governing armed…
International Humanitarian Law v. International Human Rights
Note: December 19 “Early Edition” Readers – click here for John Sifton’s guest post, Torture Is Still on the Table. We apologize for the error in the link.…
“Ending the Forever War”: A Progress Report
This past May, President Obama gave an historic speech at the National Defense University framing his counterterrorism strategy. In that speech, he committed himself to a concept…