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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3,788 Articles
A soldier holds a drone in the Pentagon parking lot on June 14, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia.

The Pentagon’s Autonomous Weapons Definitions Don’t Need an Overhaul, They Need an Update

The Pentagon's push to integrate AI into weapons systems exposes a critical gap: no one can agree on what "autonomous weapons" means.
Damaged bridge over a river with a large hole in the middle and people looking on.

When Civilian Infrastructure Becomes a Lawful Target

Civilian infrastructure is not targetable merely because it is economically significant or politically useful to strike, but only when it offers a definite military advantage.
General view taken at the start of the first hearing at the International Court of Justice in which Myanmar is accused of committing genocide against the country's Muslim minority, the Rohingya, in the Hague on January 12, 2026.

Genocide and Intent to Kill Revisited

An expert examines the implications of the ICJ's caselaw for the genocide case that Gambia brought against Myanmar.
A woman in a short, pleated white skirt and lime green top holds a child, as another woman stands next to her on the left, all against a landscape of trash, debris, and makeshift tents of fabric or corrugated metal.

Haiti’s New Courts Could Change Everything — Or Nothing At All

With international support, the Haitian government is creating two courts designed to prosecute complex crimes like the 2018 massacre at La Saline. Vetting will be crucial.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan seated at a desk at United Nations headquarters.

Before the Assembly: The Removal Vote and the Question of Fitness for Office

If the vote is understood as a judgment about the institution’s capacity to carry out its mandate, then the decision can be grounded in the interests of the Court.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Clausewitz on Operation Epic Fury

Applying Clausewitz’s principles to Operation Epic Fury reveals the war’s strategic design–architecture linking military action to political purpose–was deficient from…
A red and white cargo ship at sea in the distance, with a yellow crane-like piece of equipment, presumably at the terminal, in the foreground.

Merchant Mariners: Unseen in Peacetime and Forgotten in Conflict

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran illustrates how thousands of merchant mariners, so desperately needed globally, increasingly are trapped at sea during times of conflict.
The exterior of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on March 28, 2026.

The State Department’s Campaign Against the ICC Rests on a Misunderstanding of How the Court Actually Works

While the ICC does have real problems, the State Department's campaign against it is premised on a misapprehension of how the Court works.
A masked federal agent dressed in a tan, long-sleeved shirt, dark pants and a dark bullet-proof vest walks through a hallway in front of a wall covered with what appears to be a long blackboard with the words "Immigration Court" in large capital letters across the top and miscellaneous notices posted on the board below.

Key Trump Deportation Strategies: Removing, Replacing, and Pressuring Immigration Judges

New data shows how mass firings, loyalist replacements, and pressure tactics are turning U.S. immigration courts into a deportation enforcement arm.
The building of the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2019. (Photo by OSeveno via Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons license)

In Context: Analyzing Secretary Rubio’s International Criminal Court Op-Ed

International law scholars address some of the factual claims and underlying assumptions in Secretary Marco Rubio's op-ed on dismantling the International Criminal Court.

What does the Trump Administration Statement on Dismantling the ICC Really Mean?

International law experts respond to the Trump administration's campaign to "dismantle" the International Criminal Court.
A woman in a long skirt and headscarf rests her hand on a white gravestone among rows of memorial headstones at a Potocari cemetery, Srebrenica, under a partly cloudy sky.

Revived Islamophobic Narratives Pose Renewed Danger as Bosnia Commemorates the Srebrenica Genocide

Bosnian Serb leader denies the mass killings, rapes, and ethnic cleansing of Bosniaks while reviving racist, anti-Muslim narratives that preceded the atrocities.
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