International Law
Just Security offers expert analysis of international law and its role in addressing global challenges. Our coverage includes litigation in international and regional tribunals, the process of international law-making, analysis of compliance and accountability for international law violations–including international criminal justice, and challenges to the international legal order.
3,510 Articles
Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: A Crisis Born from Impunity
The roots of the coup can be found both domestically, in the 2008 Constitution, and in the failure of the international community to hold Myanmar's military to account.
Yazidis Deserve Justice for Genocide: How Biden’s Team Can Lead the Way
Amal Clooney pens an article based off a speech delivered at the United Nations.
The ICC Ntaganda Appeals Judgment: The End of Indirect Co-perpetration?
The complex and contested indirect co-perpetration theory of liability remains under a cloud at the ICC.
The Hidden Rules that Govern Our Supply Chains
Despite the explosion in the use of hidden trade deals in recent years, Congress has only barely spoken to the problem. It doesn’t have to be that way. But proposed changes in…
The Illegality of Targeting Civilians by Way of Belligerent Reprisal: Implications for U.S. Nuclear Doctrine
It is time for the United States to acknowledge that customary international law today prohibits targeting civilians in reprisal for an adversary’s violations of the law of war.
Big Shoulders — How the US Can Remedy Its Failures on Refugee Admissions
Despite its size and wealth, America consistently fails to do its part in upholding the terms of an international convention it helped create.
Stopping Torture: Why Professional Governance Failed, and How It Can Do Better
Professionals -- psychologists, physicians, lawyers -- played key parts in enabling post-9/11 torture programs. Yet professionalism can also constrain state power. Gregg Bloche…
Ukraine’s Pandemic-Era Obligations to Civilians in Crimea and Donbas Under Humanitarian Law
Russia is not the sole State with such responsibilities. As the displaced sovereign, Ukraine retains certain residual obligations towards its citizens.
Trump’s Secret Rules for Drone Strikes and Presidents’ Unchecked License to Kill
FOIA lawsuit obtains Trump administration's playbook. Hina Shamsi writes about the broader lessons for secret presidential powers.
A Letter to President Biden from a Former Intelligence Officer: Close Guantanamo Bay
There is shame in the knowing. There is greater shame in knowing, and doing nothing. Mr. President, you can do something. End this horrible era of American history.
Do Economic Sanctions in Response to Gross Human Rights Abuses Do Any Good?
Sanctions on both Myanmar and China, for example, can have an impact in mitigating abuses, albeit in different ways.
At 100 Days, Grading Biden’s Progress Toward a More Responsible US Arms Trade Policy
As we near the 100-day mark of this administration, and with the president delivering a “State of the Union”-like address this evening, now is a good moment to assess its arms…