United Nations (UN)
1,271 Articles
The Extent and Validity of Yemen’s Consent to the US’s Use of Force
Above: Yemen President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi at UN headquarters on September 21, 2017. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) This is piece is the latest article in our forum…
Immunity for International Crimes: Where Do States Really Stand?
Under customary international law, government officials, intelligence officers, military personnel, and other state agents generally enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution by…
Just Security Podcast: Oona Hathaway on the Bad Legal Arguments for Bombing Syria
Above: A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber after refueling from a KC-10 Extender following its participation in strikes against chemical weapons targets in Syria, April 14, 2018. Image…
The Real “Red Line” Behind Trump’s April 2018 Syria Strikes
Former State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh writes that strikes on Syria could be legal, but key unanswered factual questions remain about April's operation. What's also missing…
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.
‘I Won’t Torture’ is Not Enough: Question Pompeo on US Rendition Policy
Numerous concerns have been raised about Mike Pompeo, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of state. Though the US Senate confirmed him as the Central Intelligence Agency…
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…
UN Working Group: Indefinite Detention of Gitmo Detainee Violates Human Rights Law
The Jan. 24 findings of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention conclude that the continued detention of Ammar al Baluchi at Guantanamo Bay is arbitrary, discriminatory, and…
Centralizing Human Rights in the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy
The Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS), originally adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006, is currently undergoing its sixth review by states and the General…
UN Releases Guidelines for Team Investigating ISIS Crimes in Iraq
Back in September, we covered the establishment by the U.N. Security Council of a novel "Investigative Team" to investigate international crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity…
The Internationalists Mini-Forum: The Next World Order – Non-State Armed Groups and International Law
(This piece is the latest of several on Just Security examining The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World, written by Just Security editorial board…
Collective Self-Defense and the “Bloody Nose Strategy”: Does it Take Two to Tango?
The Japanese people and their government have reason to be nervous. Last year, North Korea conducted two ballistic missile tests over Japan. If that was not enough, the U.S. Government…