International and Foreign
3,149 Articles
Another Look at the New ICRC Survey: Glimmers of Hope?
During his campaign, Donald Trump publicly endorsed torture, indiscriminate bombing of populated areas, and killing civilians with familial ties to members of ISIS—all of which…
Category Mistake: There Is No Jus ad Bellum for Use of Force Against Non-State Actors
From South Asia to Europe and beyond, government lawyers have to inquire as to when a State is legally justified in resorting to military force against a non-State actor. What…
US-led Coalition Needs to Improve ‘Opaque, Ad Hoc’ Process for Reporting Civilian Casualties, New Report Says
President Barack Obama’s July 2016 Executive Order on Civilian Casualties has improved U.S. monitoring and reporting of civilian casualties caused by its airstrikes, but far…
What to Expect from Next Week’s Fifth CCW Review Conference Focusing on Lethal Autonomous Weapons
On Monday, the Fifth Review Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be…
Human Rights Law is the Legal Basis for Use of Force Against Non-State Armed Groups—But What Follows?
In recent weeks there have been two significant and related debates on Just Security about the justification for the use of force against non-state armed groups and the place of…
Human Shields in International Humanitarian Law: A Guide to the Legal Framework
To assist our readers interested in the phenomenon of human shields, I’ve produced a compilation of the relevant legal framework (additions/suggestions welcome!) These rules…
The Economic Incentives for International Cybersecurity Coordination
On Friday, the President’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity published its final report, making 16 recommendations and identifying 53 action items to improve cybersecurity…
President Obama’s Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks Guiding and Limiting the Use of Military Force [UPDATED]
The Administration just released five new documents relating to the use of force, including detention, in counterterrorism operations against nonstate armed groups. The most important…
Memo to President Obama: You Have Another Memo to Withdraw
The election of Donald Trump has triggered an anxious conversation about how President Obama can entrench some of his accomplishments before January 21, 2017. Importantly, given…
New ICRC Survey: Large Global Divide in Public Respect for Humanitarian Norms
A massive global survey on the laws of war includes some striking findings on public attitudes, including large differences of opinion that vary according to where people live.…
And Mattis Makes Four—Senior Policymakers in a Trump Administration Who Would Take a Hardline on Russia
Trump’s selection for Defense Secretary, retired General James N. Mattis, is the fourth in the line of senior policymakers who would presumably take a very different approach…
Foreign Gov’t Assistance to Trump Administration Policies: What Int’l Law Prohibits
The policies of the incoming Trump Administration may spell legal trouble for cooperation between the United States and its allies in important areas of national security. One…