Use of Force

Will Biden rein in near-limitless claims of presidential authority to use force without congressional authorization and commit to restoring the balance of war powers between the…

In drawing down the U.S. conventional military footprint, policymakers should resist relying reflexively on drone strikes in its place. Biden has a unique opportunity to chart…

What are the rules on avoiding harm to civilians in armed conflict and how are they applied in an operational context? A detailed explainer on the processes, technologies, and…

I was recently asked to reflect on the progress the United States has made on civilian protection after two decades of war and counterterrorism operations since 9/11. I got down…

Who benefits from the killing of journalists, human rights activists, and civil society members in Afghanistan? What purposes could it serve and for whom?

Whether the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons becomes a problem for NATO is entirely up to the allies.

I share my family’s story to underline the urgency behind avoiding war with Iran. We’ve become a nation that engages in wars of choice. We cannot continue down this current…

The absence to date of executive branch attribution and condemnation of the SolarWinds intrusions may be strategic silence—a tactic employed in the immediate aftermath of past…

Exactly forty-six years ago, on December 14, 1974, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, by consensus, the Definition of Aggression, “the most serious and dangerous form…

The war in Yemen is a global mark of shame, and the resulting humanitarian disaster threatens the lives of 24 million people.

The Sri Lankan Civil War constitutes an unprecedented case in terms of the number of people who were framed as human shields and the mobilization of prominent human rights…

The fighting raised a fundamental but surprisingly overlooked question of international law on the use of force.