Armed Conflict • International Law
Use of Force
936 Articles
Why Congress Should Not Add “Successor Organizations” in Authorizing War Against ISIS
Years from now, what organizations will be the successor entities to Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS? Of course nobody knows the answer, not even the groups themselves. With that…
Israeli Airstrikes in Syria: The International Law Analysis You Won’t Find
The United States engages in a one-off attack on a Syrian airbase and within a matter of days predictions of an end to international legal order as we know it are flying left and…
Changes to Rules of Engagement Approval Levels and Civilian Casualties
Anyone serious about combating ISIS and minimizing civilian casualties needs to consider the importance of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) in Iraq and Syria. We offer our thoughts…
What’s at Stake for US Officials if Their Use of Force is an Int’l Crime of Aggression?
In an article at Just Security last week, Michael Adams expressed surprise at the lack of attention on these and other pages to the possibility that the U.S. Tomahawk strikes on…
U.S. Military Justice and “Operational Mishaps”: A Primer
As the tempo and intensity of United States military operations increases, the likelihood of operational mishaps increases as well. These mishaps – an anodyne term that cannot…
Making Sense of the Allegations that U.S. Military Struck a Mosque in Syria
There are now two very different competing pictures about whether the United States mistakenly struck a mosque in Syria on the night of March 16, 2017. On one view, based on three…
Robert S. Taylor: On the Syria Strikes and Future of Non-UN Humanitarian Action
Why did President Bashar al-Assad use sarin gas earlier this month after years of refraining? Was the U.S. response legal? How should international lawyers think about the future…
When Moral Compulsion is Characterized as a Crime of Aggression
As a number of my colleagues have been debating the lawfulness of the United States striking a Syrian airbase with 59 Tomahawk missiles in response to a purported chemical weapons…
(Apparent) Administration Justifications for Legality of Strikes Against Syria
[Cross-posted at Take Care] The following document has begun to circulate outside the government. It is said to have been developed within the Administration. I have not confirmed,…
The Use of Force in Response to Syrian Chemical Attacks: Emergence of a New Norm?
The April 6 cruise missile strikes against Syria in response to its chemical weapon attacks on Khan Sheikhoun have generated considerable commentary on Just Security and elsewhere. …
What Do Top Legal Experts Say About the Syria Strikes?
I asked several of the very top legal minds about their views concerning Thursday night’s airstrikes by the United States in response to the Syrian government’s reported…
Not Illegal: But Now The Hard Part Begins
I am no fan of the Trump Administration, which in its short life has attempted many illegal acts. But neither do I automatically conclude that everything it does is illegal, as…