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.

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3,701 Articles
Head of the Shin Bet domestic security service Major General David Zini (L) speaks with Israel's army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir as they wait for a speech by US President Donald Trump at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on October 13, 2025.

“Hunting” the October 7 Attackers: What the Law of Armed Conflict Permits – and What It Doesn’t

Legal analysis of Israel's operation to kill or capture every individual involved in the October 7th massacre.
A wide view of the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question on May 21, 2026. (Via UN Photo) A wide view of the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question on May 21, 2026. (Via UN Photo)

Follow the Law, Not the Plan: Legal Considerations for Third States in Gaza

Third State’s support for Trump’s Gaza plan must remain strictly conditioned on compliance with international law and be continuously reassessed in light of evolving facts.…
José Basulto, president of the Cuban exile organization Brothers to the Rescue, stands beside a small plane 03 August 2006 in Miami, which was used to assist Cuban rafters fleeing the communist island nation. Basulto, who has been accused of violating Cuban airspace on numerous occasions and is said to have dropped anti-Fidel Castro leaflets over Havana, no longer flies on these missions. On 24 February 1996 Cuban airforce MiGs shot two of the unarmed rescue aircrafts killing its occupants. AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

Shooting Down Civil Aircraft: What International and U.S. Law Say About a Charge in the Raul Castro Indictment

Q&A providing an overview of the legal framework governing shootdowns, including their status under both international and domestic U.S. law
Naija Raufi in a dark dress and a floral hijab stands at a balcony railing, overlooking the low- to medium-rise urban landscape of Athens, her back to the camera, alongside a young girl in a pink dress and pony tails in her dark hair.

I Was Afghanistan’s Attorney General. Here Is What Justice Looked Like — and What Destroyed It.

Afghanistan’s justice system took 20 years to build and 11 days to destroy. Former Attorney General Mohammad Farid Hamidi outlines the ongoing fight for accountability.
Eight F/A-18E/F Super Hornets in the sky

International Accountability for U.S. Crimes in the Caribbean and Pacific

If no one acts, U.S. crimes in the Caribbean and Pacific will embolden other bad actors and encourage more violations of international law.

Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve

Collection of expert analysis on the legality of the U.S. strike on Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean, the consequences of the strike, and related issues.
Two soldiers in the foreground wearing fatigues and olive green caps place flags in front of each of the small, white headstones lined up along the green spring grass under leafy trees at Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia.

To Memorialize the Fallen, Renew the Pursuit of Peace

This Memorial Day, to honor the memory of those who gave their lives in war, Americans should consider how to help mold a more peaceful future at home and abroad.
Image of a globe focused on East Europe and parts of western Russia.

Ukrainian Drone Incursions into Baltic States, Russian Electronic Warfare Countermeasures, and International Law

Experts unpack the international law implications of recent incursions of Ukrainian drones into the airspace of Baltic countries due to Russian electronic warfare tactics.
Notes about kitchen appliances are seen on a whiteboard as students attend a lesson on housekeeping at a training facility for domestic workers on November 22, 2022 in Kampala, Uganda.

The Kafala System Disables Workers. International Disability Law Can Hold Saudi Arabia Accountable

The story of a Kenyan domestic worker is one of 15 in the first UN communications challenging the Kafala system under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Residents walk with a bicycle past destroyed buildings in Yarmouk camp, Damascus, Syria, on November 8, 2025. Established in 1957, Yarmouk was once the largest Palestinian refugee community in Syria, but years of conflict left much of it in ruins. (Photo by Omar Albaw / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by OMAR ALBAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Starvation on Trial: Koblenz and the Case of Yarmouk

A trial in Germany concerning the siege of Yarmouk in Syria tests the application of universal jurisdiction to patterns of siege warfare and civilian deprivation.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and European council secretary general Alain Berset (R) speak after the signing of an agreement for establishing a special tribunal to try top officials responsible for Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on June 25, 2025. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP via Getty Images)

In Absentia Trials and the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine

When defendants can be informed of their trial and have a right to a retrial in person, in absentia trials can be legitimate and necessary for victims and society at large.
People wave Iranian flags from the bed of a truck depicting Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani

Is the United States at War with Iraq?

The non-international armed conflict between the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and the United States and Israel has yet to transform into an international armed conflict.
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