International and Foreign
2,970 Articles
The US’ Failure to Plan for ISIL Detention Operations is a Flawed Approach
When it comes to detaining ISIL suspects in Iraq and Syria, the US is taking a hands-off approach. The New York Times reported last week that the US is not planning to engage in…
The Senate Killed JASTA, Then Passed It…
About a month ago, I wrote a long primer on JASTA (the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act), a bill that is designed to make it far easier for 9/11 victims and their families…
Transparency, Review, and Relief: The Far-Reaching Implications of the Kunduz Report
Thus far, many discussions of the US military’s release of a 120-page detailed report of the lawfulness of its attack on the Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) facility in Kunduz,…
The UK’s Report on Drones and Targeted Killing Leaves Unanswered Questions
Yesterday, the British Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights published the report of its months-long inquiry into the use of drones for targeted killing. The 110-page…
What the Kunduz Report Gets Right (and Wrong)
Over the past week, many thoughtful posts have appeared, here and elsewhere, reacting to the US military’s report on the 2015 airstrike of a Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF)…
A Small, If Uncertain, Step Towards Accountability: De Sousa and the Abu Omar Abduction
Portuguese courts continue to clear the path for the extradition of former CIA agent Sabrina De Sousa to Italy. In 2009, Italy convicted De Sousa and 22 other US officials (all…
Recklessness, War Crimes, and the Kunduz Hospital Bombing
Last Friday, the US military announced that it was disciplining 16 service members involved in the bombing of the Médicins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan that…
US Government Concludes no “War Crimes” in Kunduz Strike, But Fails to Explain Why
The US government’s 120-page report on the Kunduz airstrike — in which US forces killed 42 civilians and destroyed a Médicins Sans Frontières hospital — found that US forces…
Yes, Russia’s Antics in the Baltic Sea Violate “International Rules”
Recently, Russian aircraft ‘buzzed’ a US Navy ship and ‘barrel rolled’ over a US Air Force plane above the Baltic Sea. The fallout cast a distracting pall over last week’s…
Would JASTA Violate International Law?
Writing in The New York Times last Friday, Curt Bradley and Jack Goldsmith argued that the Justice Against State Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) would “violate a core principle…
We Need to Know More About the US’s Role in Yemen
A crowd quickly gathered when I arrived last month in what remained of the market in Mastaba, a small highway town in northern Yemen. A week earlier, on March 15, warplanes from…
The International Discussion Continues: 2016 CCW Experts Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons
Last week, States Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), the international treaty banning or restricting the use of land mines, blinding lasers, and other…