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.
3,701 Articles

The International Rule of Law: A Struggle of Memory Against Forgetting
The role lawyers can play in ensuring that the norms underpinning the rules-based international order are not abandoned.

Widespread and Systematic Disappearances in Mexico: An Urgent Call for UN Action Under the Convention on Enforced Disappearances
The UN General Assembly and Mexico have the unique opportunity to ensure full realization of the rights of victims and reduce enforced disappearances. They should take it.

In Response to the Letter by International Law Experts
Four experts, who have each served as Senior Law of War Advisor, respond to Letter by 100+ international law experts on Iran war published at Just Security.

The International Legal Consequences and Imprudence of U.S. Assistance to Kurdish Rebels in Iran
U.S. policies of funding rebel groups to achieve shared strategic objectives while turning a blind eye to ideology and international law has proven to be myopic time and again
The Just Security Podcast: Sudan Enters Its Fourth Year of Civil War
Quscondy Abdulshafi joins host Viola Gienger to discuss how Sudan got to this point, how the international community has responded, and where to go next.

Mined and Blockaded: Iran’s Unlawful Mining and the U.S. Port Blockade
If transit passage rights wither away in the Strait of Hormuz, then every chokepoint in the world is potentially exposed.

Over 100 International Law Experts Warn: U.S. Strikes on Iran Violate UN Charter and May Be War Crimes
Over 100 international law experts sign letter on Iran War, UN Charter, and international humanitarian law.

Codifying Forced Marriage in the Crimes Against Humanity Convention: From Jurisprudence to Treaty Text
States now have an opportunity to codify forced marriage as a specific violation in a proposed treaty on crimes against humanity.

Continuing Crisis in Strait of Hormuz: Why Iran’s Hold is Illegal and U.S. Military Force Alone Fails
Former US Navy Commander, JAGC Mark Nevitt provides a legal and operational update on the Strait of Hormuz crisis, including Iran’s military role and imposition of tolls.

Reprisals and the Paradox of Trust: Why Threats of Retaliation in the Iran War are Unlikely to Work
Reprisals demand trust between adversaries, yet they often spark escalation. Their ban under international law is both moral and practical.

When War Crimes Rhetoric Becomes Battlefield Reality: The Slippery Slope to Total War on Iran
Former JAGs warn that threats to strike Iran’s power plants would violate the law of war and endanger U.S. service members’ legal and moral obligations.

Washington Is Backing the Wrong Lebanon Strategy
The U.S. should link Lebanese state-building and Hezbollah disarmament through a political process, not war, to secure a durable Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.