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.
3,512 Articles
Saif Gaddafi’s Release and the Challenge for International Criminal Justice
Six years after his capture during the Arab Spring uprising against his father Muammar Gaddafi, and despite pending charges in the International Criminal Court, Saif al Islam Gaddafi…
The “Leahy Law” Prohibiting US Assistance to Human Rights Abusers: Pulling Back the Curtain
With almost weekly news reports of US support for foreign governments with track records of gross human rights abuse—think torture in Yemen by Emirati security forces, violations…
Not the Time for the Sounds of Silence
My father was on a death march through Yugoslavia when liberated by Tito’s partisans in November 1944. My mother was in a courtyard in Budapest waiting to be executed by a firing…
Cross-Border Access to Data: Google’s Senior VP Weighs In
This morning, Kent Walker, Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of Google, gave a speech to a packed audience at the Heritage Foundation, laying out the need for new laws…
Political Parties as Critical Infrastructure?
Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testified Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee as part of the House investigation into Russian interference in the…
The Potential Legal Implications for the U.S. in the AP’s Disturbing UAE Torture Scoop
[Editor’s note: for an analysis of the policy issues raised by this news, see Luke Hartig’s post “Reported Emirati Abuse of Detainees and the Perils of U.S. Partnerships.”]…
On the Precipice: The U.S. and Russia in Syria
A Russian air force Su-30 fighter jet in Syria. The United States and Russia have entered a new and dangerous moment. On Sunday, a U.S. fighter jet shot down a Syrian warplane.…
U.S. Law of War and Israeli Occupation: Why Enforcing International Norms in the Middle East Matters to the U.S.
Donald Trump used his first international trip as president to visit three of the holiest sites of the world’s three major monotheistic religions. He also used the trip to signal…
Regional Leaders Must Prioritize Accountability in South Sudan
East African heads of state and foreign ministers gathered in Ethiopia on June 12 to address the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis in South Sudan. While the discussion centered…
Revitalizing Internationalism through the Convention on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
A resurgence of small-minded nationalism around the globe, most worryingly in several nuclear-armed countries, has gravely concerned many who champion the international organizations…
About that “Deconfliction Zone” in Syria: Is the United States on Firm Domestic and International Legal Footing?
The U.S. military has at least three times in recent weeks engaged in hostilities against pro-Syrian regime forces near the At Tanf garrison in southern Syria and shot down a pro-regime…
U.S. Secrecy and Transparency in the Use of Lethal Force
Much of the news in the first few months of the Trump administration has been dominated by the Russia scandal, James Comey, and the President’s Twitter feed. Falling below…