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.
3,520 Articles
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…
Expert Q&A: The International Criminal Court’s Afghanistan Probe and the US
In November, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, sought authorization from a panel of ICC judges to open an investigation into war crimes…
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.
Just Security Podcast: Britain’s Response to the Russia Spy Poisoning
While it already feels like it happened ages ago, last week, British Prime Minister Theresa May declared the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal on British soil to be…
The Saudi War in Yemen Is Strengthening Terrorism
Saudi Arabia’s U.S.-backed military campaign in Yemen not only drives the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, but also deepens the terrorist threat to the U.S. And American…
Gina Haspel, Torture, and the ProPublica Correction
ProPublica’s comprehensive correction to significant portions of its earlier reporting on Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump’s recent nominee for CIA Director, provided an…
UN Working Group: Indefinite Detention of Gitmo Detainee Violates Human Rights Law
The Jan. 24 findings of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention conclude that the continued detention of Ammar al Baluchi at Guantanamo Bay is arbitrary, discriminatory, and…
“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…
The End of Pretending
Above: President Donald Trump speaks at CIA headquarters. Editors’ note: this article has been updated to reflect the newly-reported fact that Gina Haspel was not in charge…
When Does the Legal Basis for U.S. Forces in Syria Expire?
The State Department announced earlier this year that the “full and complete defeat of ISIS” is a necessary condition for ending U.S. military operations in Syria. But Senators…
Salisbury Response Option: Take Putin to Int’l Criminal Court
What legal options are open to the United Kingdom in its response to the alleged Russian assassination attempt in Salisbury? A separate piece at Just Security will discuss whether…
Just Security Podcast: Daphne Eviatar on Military Targeting under Trump
The sharp uptick in civilian casualties from U.S. military operations across the world under President Trump has alarmed human rights lawyers, who say the legal standards for targeting…