Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
23 Articles

Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: The ASEAN Way Must Change
The regional bloc has long adopted a non-interventionist stance in the name of regional stability. But the Myanmar coup shows how this stance actually undermines stability - and…

The Caesar Sanctions Help Reinforce Norms Enshrined in International Law
Raising questions about the potential harmful effects of sanctions on civilians is an honorable task. As is ensuring that the sanctions meted out by the United States are backed…

Germany’s Research Report on the Syria Strikes: Unlawful Acts of Reprisal
Just hours after the United States, United Kingdom and France launched the first series of coordinated strikes against targets related to Syria’s chemical weapons program, Germany’s…

UPDATE: Mapping States’ Reactions to the Syria Strikes of April 2018
Fifty percent more states are added to this database on global reactions to the US, UK, France strikes on Syria last month. What were the international community's true views on…

Mapping States’ Reactions to the U.S. Strikes Against Syria of April 2018–A Comprehensive Guide
[First version, May 7, 2018 with 79 States and 2 intergovernmental organizations] This is the permanent page for the Mapping States’ Reactions to the Syria Strikes of April 2018…

Mapping States’ Reactions to the Syria Strikes of April 2018
Statements, Chart, and Map for every state in the world that has taken a public position on the legality and justification of strikes in Syria conducted by the US, UK, and France.

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…

US Responsibility Arising From Russian Violations of the Law of Armed Conflict
Ryan Goodman raised a great question yesterday about the US-Russia deal on Syria: may the United States coordinate military operations with Russia if Russia is highly likely to…

U.S. Policy on the ICC Crime of Aggression Announced
At the Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law earlier this month, Professor Michael J. Matheson of George Washington University Law School chaired a fascinating…

ISIL = Genocide?
As we have discussed, the United States has launched further military action in Iraq. These operations follow limited airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant…