Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC)
688 Articles

Questions for the Defense Department’s General Counsel
On Monday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m., Jennifer O’Connor, general counsel of the Department of Defense, is giving a talk at NYU School of Law on “Applying the Law of Targeting to the…
Human Rights in Armed Conflict, Part I
When powerful States adopt a mistaken view of international law, should we—scholars, practitioners, and activists—resist their view and insist on our own? Or should we regard…
US Transparency Regarding International Law in Cyberspace
Last Thursday, State Department Legal Adviser Brian Egan, delivered an important speech at Berkeley Law School on the relationship between international law and cyber activities. …
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…

Implicit Consent and the Use of Force in Syria
There has been an interesting and robust debate on Just Security over the past several weeks regarding the issue of the use of force on the territory of another state, but not…
Technology and Autonomy in Warfare: A Consideration of the Issue by the US Defense Science Review Board
A new report from the Pentagon’s Defense Science Review Board (DSRB) provides a useful examination of the technical issues concerning the fielding of autonomous weapons. Unquestionably,…
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…
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…