Humanitarian Intervention
49 Articles
The Real “Red Line” Behind Trump’s April 2018 Syria Strikes
Former State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh writes that strikes on Syria could be legal, but key unanswered factual questions remain about April's operation. What's also missing…
Bad Legal Arguments for the Syria Strikes
There is no apparent domestic or international legal authority for the airstrikes conducted in Syria on April 14.
Syria, Chemical Weapons, and a Qualitative Threshold for Humanitarian Intervention
An improved legal framework using a qualitative threshold—legitimizing humanitarian intervention against regimes that use chemical and biological weapons (CBW) on civilians—can…
Robert S. Taylor: On the Syria Strikes and Future of Non-UN Humanitarian Action
Why did President Bashar al-Assad use sarin gas earlier this month after years of refraining? Was the U.S. response legal? How should international lawyers think about the future…
When Moral Compulsion is Characterized as a Crime of Aggression
As a number of my colleagues have been debating the lawfulness of the United States striking a Syrian airbase with 59 Tomahawk missiles in response to a purported chemical weapons…
(Apparent) Administration Justifications for Legality of Strikes Against Syria
[Cross-posted at Take Care] The following document has begun to circulate outside the government. It is said to have been developed within the Administration. I have not confirmed,…
The Use of Force in Response to Syrian Chemical Attacks: Emergence of a New Norm?
The April 6 cruise missile strikes against Syria in response to its chemical weapon attacks on Khan Sheikhoun have generated considerable commentary on Just Security and elsewhere. …
What Do Top Legal Experts Say About the Syria Strikes?
I asked several of the very top legal minds about their views concerning Thursday night’s airstrikes by the United States in response to the Syrian government’s reported…
Not Illegal: But Now The Hard Part Begins
I am no fan of the Trump Administration, which in its short life has attempted many illegal acts. But neither do I automatically conclude that everything it does is illegal, as…
Humanitarian Military Options for Syrian Chemical Weapons Attack: “Illegal but Not Unprecedented”
Without Security Council authorization, any U.S. military force to respond to Assad’s chemical weapons attack would be a violation of international law, but … Policymakers…
Oxford Guidance on Humanitarian Relief Operations: Comments on Arbitrarily Withholding Consent and the Status of the Guidance
[Just Security and EJIL Talk! are co-hosting an online forum on the Oxford Guidance on the Law Relating to Humanitarian Relief Operations in Situations of Armed Conflict, which…
Humanitarian Access from an Armed Non-State Actor’s Perspective
[Just Security and EJIL Talk! are co-hosting an online forum on the Oxford Guidance on the Law Relating to Humanitarian Relief Operations in Situations of Armed Conflict, which…