International and Foreign
2,950 Articles

Updated Readers’ Guide to Airstrikes in Syria
With the Syrian government and rebel groups well into the second week of a “cessation of hostilities agreement” intended to pave the way for a peace process between the government…

War Crimes and the Use of Improvised and Indiscriminate Weapons in Syria
Editor’s note: This is the latest in a continuing series about alleged war crimes in Syria. You can find the previous installments here and here. While several sides of the conflict…

Are People in Islamic State Training Camps Legitimate Targets?
As of March 1st, the US-led anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition had conducted a total of 10,715 strikes, including 7,159 in Iraq and 3,556 in Syria. Much concern has been expressed…

A Primer on the “Cessation of Hostilities” in Syria and International Law
In case you missed it, the US and Russia brokered a “cessation of hostilities” arrangement for the war-torn county of Syria that went into effect last Saturday, February…

UK Government Introduces Revised Investigatory Powers Bill in Parliament
Yesterday, the UK government introduced a revised version of its Investigatory Powers Bill (aka the “snooper’s charter”) to Parliament. The bill seeks to consolidate, for…

Partition of Syria as Plan B?: The Case for Caution
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…

A Quick Update on Serdar Mohammed v. Ministry of Defence
Earlier this month, the UK Supreme Court held oral argument in Serdar Mohammed v. Ministry of Defence, a crucial case concerning the legality of British detention policy in Afghanistan.…

How Should International Law Deal With Doubt in the Era of Drones and Big Data?
Recent reports on the NSA’s use of metadata and machine learning to generate intelligence for drone strikes in Pakistan spotlights the somewhat less-discussed legal concerns…

Iraq and Syria: Prospects for Accountability
On February 10, 2016, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission convened a congressional briefing devoted to the topic of advancing accountability for the commission of international…

Building Civil Liberties Protections Into the EU’s Latest Border Discussions
European officials are renewing efforts to secure their borders in the wake of last November’s Paris attack. At the end of last month, EU Interior Ministers met to solidify cooperation…

“More Than a Domestic Mechanism”: Options for Hybrid Justice in Sri Lanka
For nearly three decades, the government of Sri Lanka fought with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but after years of resistance, the new government has committed to…

MLAT Reform and the 80 Percent Solution
Last week, The Washington Post reported that the US and the UK were in negotiations to permit UK law enforcement agencies to request stored communications like email and chats…