International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
723 Articles
What are the Legal Issues Surrounding the Use of Depleted Uranium in Syria and Iraq?
Although it received little attention at the time, journalist Samuel Oakford broke the story last month that the Pentagon has confirmed using weapons containing depleted uranium…
Laws of War: Humanitarian Stallion or Trojan Horse?
Reuters recently reported that “armed militia groups are preparing for the possibility of a stolen election on Nov. 8 and civil unrest in the days following a victory by Democrat…
Full Text: “Oxford Guidance on Law of Relief Operations During Armed Conflict”
In today’s conflict zones, from Syria to Sudan, it is becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible at times, for those providing humanitarian relief to reach the people…
How We Read a NYT Story on UN Responsibility for Peacekeepers’ Misconduct
A new Haitian cholera vaccination program. Image by UN/MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi In this post, we’re trying something attempted once before at Just Security. Below, we present an…
Untangling the Web of Actors in Syria and Additional Complexities of Classifying Armed Conflicts
As the international community struggles to find solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, several recent posts at Just Security and elsewhere have offered interpretations…
Human Shields in Mosul
Daesh’s inhumanity seems to know no bounds. For its latest depravity, the group has forcibly expelled hundreds of civilians from nearby villages and forced them to serve as…
The Terminology of War and the Consequences for Executive Power
Just Security has hosted a number of interesting exchanges over the last week concerning the international and political implications of identifying the existence of an armed conflict.…
Letter to the Editor from Professor Terry Gill on Classification of International Armed Conflict
Firstly, many thanks to Professor Adil Haque for reading my piece and for his thoughtful comments on it, both favorable and less so. Let me briefly reply to some of the points…
The Law of Consent-Based Interventions
In a recent Just Security post, Adil Ahmad Haque asks what legal rules constrain the use of military force by an intervening state acting without the host state’s consent. Recognizing…
Between the Law of Force and the Law of Armed Conflict
Last week, I argued in favor of the ICRC’s position that if one state uses armed force in the territory of another state then an international armed conflict (IAC) arises between…
Whose Armed Conflict? Which Law of Armed Conflict?
When one state, say, the United States, uses military force on the territory of another state, say, Syria or Pakistan, without the consent of that state, what legal rules constrain…
Triggers and Thresholds of Non-International Armed Conflict
When and where does the law of non-international armed conflict apply? Since most contemporary armed conflicts are fought between states and organized armed groups, or between…