Armed Conflict
Use of Force
823 Articles
If Mattis Meant to Assert Self-Defense for the Syria Strike, He Was Wrong
Since the United States conducted a military strike on various targets associated with the Syrian government’s chemical weapons program last week, prominent voices in the legal…
The Legality of Using Force to Deter Chemical Warfare
We should not be asking whether the missile strikes against Syria's chemical weapons program represent a lawful humanitarian intervention. Instead, we should be asking if – and…
Corker’s Proposal Hands Trump A Dangerous, Open-Ended War Authorization
While the media is focused on the Trump administration’s strikes against Syria, there’s another effort to entrench and expand the U.S. global war posture that’s getting less…
The Real “Red Line” Behind Trump’s April 2018 Syria Strikes
Former State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh writes that strikes on Syria could be legal, but key unanswered factual questions remain about April's operation. What's also missing…
Bad Legal Arguments for the Syria Strikes
There is no apparent domestic or international legal authority for the airstrikes conducted in Syria on April 14.
Syria, Chemical Weapons, and a Qualitative Threshold for Humanitarian Intervention
An improved legal framework using a qualitative threshold—legitimizing humanitarian intervention against regimes that use chemical and biological weapons (CBW) on civilians—can…
Just Security’s Symposium on the ICC Afghanistan Probe and the US
Just Security is pleased to announce the launch of an online symposium dedicated to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) probe in Afghanistan and its implications for the…
U.S. Federal Statute on Aiding and Abetting: War Crimes in Yemen – Part II
This piece is the second of two on U.S. operations in Yemen and the War Crimes Act, and the latest article in our forum on the Yemen crisis and the law. In September 2017, Ryan…
Civilian Casualties and Effectiveness of U.S. Drone Strikes in Yemen
This is the first of two articles on U.S. counterterrorism operations in Yemen. It also the latest in a new series we are producing in partnership Columbia Law School’s Human…
Somalis Harmed by Suspected Drone Strikes Demand Accountability
This article is the latest in a new series we are producing in partnership Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute that features the voices of experts and advocates from…
Civilian Casualties: We Need Better Estimates—Not Just Better Numbers
The Pentagon could do a better job reducing civilian casualties in wartime. Here's how.
“License to Kill” in Salisbury: State-sponsored assassinations and the jus ad bellum
Above: U.K. Ambassador to the U.N. Jonathan Allen speaks at an urgent meeting of the Security Council on the recent nerve agent attack in Salisbury, U.K. on March 14, 2018. (Spencer…