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
Human Shields and Proportionality: A Reply to Charlie Dunlap
In its new Law of War Manual, the Defense Department takes the position that harm to human shields, no matter how extensive, will be “understood not to prohibit attacks under…
Human Shields and the DOD Law of War Manual: Can’t We Improve the Debate?
In a recent post, Prof. Adil Ahmad Haque attacked the new Defense Department Law of War Manual’s position on proportionality and human shields. Evidently, Haque thinks that the…
Reflections on the Israeli Report on the Gaza Conflict
During last year’s Operation Protective Edge, a fascinating data visualization published in Medium revealed the extent of political polarization on Israel and Gaza and the scarcity…
Latest UK Judgment on Post-Snowden Surveillance
On June 22, the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) gave its latest judgment in the post-Snowden surveillance litigation brought by several NGOs against the UK Government…
The Defense Department’s Indefensible Position on Killing Human Shields
The Defense Department apparently thinks that it may lawfully kill an unlimited number of civilians forced to serve as involuntary human shields in order to achieve even a trivial…
Questions That Should be Asked About Seal Team 6 and the Laws of War
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
The CIA Can’t Keep Its Drone Propaganda Straight
This week, one government intelligence agency, after patiently and methodically tracking a terrorist leader for months through precise electronic surveillance, successfully targeted…
Delay and Detention at Obama’s Guantánamo: The Missing PRBs
As Steve Vladeck noted last week, lawyers for Guantánamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi filed a motion in his habeas corpus case demanding that the Obama administration…
Abu Ghraib and the Perversion of the Political Question Doctrine
I’ve written extensively about the important and complex legal questions raised by state-law tort suits against private military contractors, many of which have arisen in…
Guest Post: Israel’s Report on the 2014 Gaza Conflict
The Israeli government released its complete report on the 2014 Gaza Conflict (“Operation Protective Edge”) on Sunday (some chapters have been available online the past few…
Guest Post: Exploding Civilian Involvement and “The People’s Perspectives” Report
Last month, the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) published first-hand views of civilians living in conflict-affected countries, something “largely absent” from discussions…
The OPM Hack and the New DOD Law of War Manual
Last Friday was a big day in cybersecurity news. OPM announced that, in addition to the compromise of the personnel information of federal employees revealed on June 4, Chinese…