Armed Conflict • International Law
Use of Force
837 Articles
A Response to Jonathan Horowitz – Why Unwilling or Unable is Measured by a State’s Capacity to Act as Well as its Willingness to do so
Jonathan Horowitz responded to my earlier post and made two points about the “unable or unwilling” standard that I believe merit some clarification. Jonathan begins by agreeing…
When Institutions Fail: A Thought Experiment
[Editors’ Note: The following post is the second installment of a new feature, “Monday Reflections,” in which a different Just Security editor will take a…
Does the Unwilling/Unable Test Hang on Territorial Control?: A Response to Michael Lewis
Professor Yoram Dinstein has characterized war as something that would “appear every once in a while, leave death and devastation in its wake, and temporarily pass away to return…
International Law – and the Unwilling and Unable Test – for US Military Operations in Syria
I greatly appreciate Professor Mike Lewis’s contribution to our discussion of international law on potential US airstrikes inside Syria. In this post, I reply to Mike’s concerns…
The Erosion of a Secret
Drone Timeline (Click to Enlarge) In connection with an ACLU Freedom of Information Act lawsuit pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the CIA has…
What Does the “Unwilling or Unable” Standard Mean in the Context of Syria?
[Editor’s note: Ryan Goodman responds to Professor Lewis in a subsequent post. See also a response by Jonathan Horowitz] President Obama has now announced his intentions to carry…
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…
Did the U.S. drone strike and secretly compensate Yemeni civilians?
New documentary evidence has emerged indicating that the families of those killed in a controversial December 2013 U.S. strike in Yemen received upwards of $1 million dollars in…
The Weapons Piece of the Proportionality Analysis in Gaza
Significant commentary (here and here) continues to be generated about proportionality and the legality of the use of force, including addressing the jus ad bellum (justification…