Use of Force
174 Articles

Further thoughts on the Preston ASIL speech
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…

Two Questions for Stephen Preston
As Marty has already written, the Department of Defense’s General Counsel Stephen Preston gave a speech tonight at the American Society of International Law “the Legal…

Highlights From DOD General Council Stephen Preston’s ASIL Speech
As I write this, DOD General Counsel Stephen Preston is delivering a speech at the annual meeting of the American Society of International Law on the topic of “the Legal…

International Law and Cyber Attacks: Sony v. North Korea
It could only happen in the movies. A major Hollywood company produces a film starring well-known comedic actors which involves the tongue-in-cheek assassination of the leader…

International Law on Airstrikes against ISIS in Syria
The administration is actively considering the option of using military force against ISIS in Syria. As the New York Times editorial board states today: “The United States, however,…

Major development concerning transparency of the use of force in Yemen
“I think the rule should be that if we’re going to take actions overseas that result in the deaths of people, the United States should take responsibility for that.”…

State Practice and the Use of Force: Iran Invokes the “Unwilling or Unable” Test against its Neighbors
Can the United States send armed forces into another state to deal with a national security threat from a militant group when the host state is “unwilling or unable” to contain…

Summary of New Report from the ICRC
Last month, the ICRC released a 90-plus page report titled, “The Use of Force in Armed Conflict: Interplay between the Conduct of Hostilities and Law Enforcement Paradigms.”…

State Department Concludes Review of NGO Drone Strike Reports, Offers Public Response (Sort of)
The U.S. Department of State told reporters late last week that it had concluded its review of the Amnesty International and HRW targeted killing and drone strike reports. The…

Pakistan Test Fires Missile to Take Down Drones
It might have been easy to doubt the veracity of the Pakistan government’s public protestations against US drone strikes in light of secret agreements between the two governments…

Report to the General Assembly on Armed Drones and the Right to Life (or drones should follow the law, not the other way around)
[Editorial note: Last week, the United Nations discussed two major reports on drones. Just Security’s coverage included posts by Philip Alston, Ryan Goodman (here, here), Kevin…

The Problematic “Belonging To” Analogy: A Response to Goodman
[Editor’s note: Ryan Goodman replies to Professor Heller in a subsequent post.] In a recent post here at Just Security, Ryan Goodman offered a novel – and characteristically…