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.
3,695 Articles
U.S. Officials Risk Complicity in War Crimes in Yemen
The burned remains of a fuel tanker at the Arhab water drilling site in the Sanaa governorate. A well being dug in a small village in Yemen was nearing completion last September…
Israeli Airstrikes in Syria: The International Law Analysis You Won’t Find
The United States engages in a one-off attack on a Syrian airbase and within a matter of days predictions of an end to international legal order as we know it are flying left and…
Changes to Rules of Engagement Approval Levels and Civilian Casualties
Anyone serious about combating ISIS and minimizing civilian casualties needs to consider the importance of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) in Iraq and Syria. We offer our thoughts…
On N. Korea: Calling on Congress and the President’s Advisers to Defend the Constitution
For those of us who had hoped Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the president’s national security advisor, would make up for the inexperience and curb…
What’s at Stake for US Officials if Their Use of Force is an Int’l Crime of Aggression?
In an article at Just Security last week, Michael Adams expressed surprise at the lack of attention on these and other pages to the possibility that the U.S. Tomahawk strikes on…
U.S. Military Justice and “Operational Mishaps”: A Primer
As the tempo and intensity of United States military operations increases, the likelihood of operational mishaps increases as well. These mishaps – an anodyne term that cannot…
Making Sense of the Allegations that U.S. Military Struck a Mosque in Syria
There are now two very different competing pictures about whether the United States mistakenly struck a mosque in Syria on the night of March 16, 2017. On one view, based on three…
US Seeks New Assurances from Saudis on Civilian Casualties—but is that even possible?
The Trump administration is reportedly seeking a new set of assurances from Saudi Arabia that it will minimize civilian casualties in its air campaign in Yemen—but would those…
The ICJ Issues Provisional Measures Against Russia on Ukraine’s Racial Discrimination Claims
Russian media are reporting that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “rejected” Ukraine’s request for provisional measures against the Russian Federation in the case…
Robert S. Taylor: On the Syria Strikes and Future of Non-UN Humanitarian Action
Why did President Bashar al-Assad use sarin gas earlier this month after years of refraining? Was the U.S. response legal? How should international lawyers think about the future…
“Golden Shield” Oral Arguments Today: Doe v. Cisco
A panel of the Ninth Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco (composed of Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Wallace Tashima, and Marsha Berzon) will hear oral arguments today in the Alien…
Former Deputy Assist Sec of Defense: “Glaring” “deficiencies” in Saudi Air Force responsible for civilian casualties in Yemen
Looking for an expert’s explanation of why the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen, which are supported by US arms and assistance, repeatedly kill large numbers of civilians? Andrew Exum,…