Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC)
609 Articles
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…
De Facto and De Jure Non-International Armed Conflicts: Is It Time to Topple Tadić?
When does violence between a state and non-state actor constitute an armed conflict and thus trigger the system of legal rules that apply in non-international armed conflict (NIAC)?…
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…
Two U.S. Positions on the Duty to Ensure Respect for the Geneva Conventions
When should the U.S. government reverse a previous U.S. interpretation of a treaty? Should there be a presumption against doing so, and what process and substantive reasons should…
Just Security’s Questions for Clinton and Trump
Given the importance of tonight’s prime-time debate between US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, we’re again running our list of vital national…
Are the U.S. and U.K. parties to the Saudi-led armed conflict against the Houthis in Yemen?
A series of posts at Just Security have focused on the rules that apply to U.S. and U.K. support for the Saudi-led coalition’s military operations against the Houthi rebels…