Laws of War
101 Articles
Proportionality and 150 Iranian Lives: Do They “Count”?
General (ret.) Ken Watkin explains why assessing civilian casualties in the jus ad bellum proportionality analysis is the right approach.
Post-9/11 Veterans Have Mixed Feelings About Trump’s War Crimes Pardons
In order to better understand how to think about this controversial decision, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) conducted a flash poll this week, with over 1,600…
“ISIS Widows” and “Boko Haram Wives”: Overlooked Abuses in Iraq and Nigeria
Thousands of displaced women in Iraq and Nigeria have been arbitrarily branded as affiliated with IS or Boko Haram, and subjected to abuse as a result. Almost 400 in-depth interviews…
Legal Implications of the Defect in Pentagon’s Civilian Casualty Assessments
Goodman supplements his New York Times Op-ed by discussing two legal implications of a flaw in how the Pentagon counts civilian casualties.
Salisbury Response Option: Take Putin to Int’l Criminal Court
What legal options are open to the United Kingdom in its response to the alleged Russian assassination attempt in Salisbury? A separate piece at Just Security will discuss whether…
Trump’s Explanation for His Administration’s Use of Military Force Due Today
As I discuss in a piece over at Defense One, today is the deadline for the Trump administration to provide a detailed explanation to Congress on its legal and policy basis for…
Important Report by White House on National Security Due Soon
The executive branch owes it to Congress—and all of us—to deliver the answers Congress has demanded to do the critical job assigned to our national legislature and serve the…
The “Shift Cold” Military Tactic: Finding Room Under International Law
It should surprise no one that evolving military practice raises novel legal questions. It may surprise many that the increasing use of “shift cold” techniques by advanced…
The “Shift Cold” Military Tactic and International Humanitarian Law
New technology allows for new military tactics in urban warfare. Legal questions have been raised about a military practice--called "shift cold"--in which an operator redirects…
No, Ceasefires and Armistices Are Not “Outmoded”
My friend Oona Hathaway penned an important post (“Recent Israeli Strikes on Syria and the Prohibition on the Unilateral Use of Force”) where she rightly express concern about…
Words Matter in War
Command Sergeant Major John Wayne Troxell, the senior enlisted adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shared this attention-grabbing message with his more than…
U.S. “Confronting” Iran inside Syria: Spoiling for an Unlawful Fight?
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meet during the BRICS/SCO Summits – Russia 2015 on July 09, 2015 in Ufa, Russia. (Photo by Alexey Filippov/Host…