Yemen
301 Articles

Explainer: What Mental State is Required to Commit a War Crime?
What exactly is the definition of war crimes under international law or, more precisely, what mental state is required to commit such an offence? The synopsis below provides an…

State Responsibility for Assistance to Foreign Forces (aka How to Assess US-UK Support for Saudi Ops in Yemen)
Airstrikes in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition have received increased attention in the last few weeks. In her recent post, Beth Van Schaack noted that in addition to the potential…

Evaluating Proportionality and Long-Term Civilian Harm under the Laws of War
As noted by Alex Whiting in his piece last week, the law of armed conflict, or international humanitarian law (IHL), contains broad principles and prohibitions that are applied…

Are Saudi-led Coalition Forces Committing War Crimes in Yemen?
This month, Saudi-led coalition forces recommenced airstrikes on Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, targeting the forces of Ansar Allah (known as the Houthis), after peace talks that…

Congress Needs to Press the Pentagon, Saudi Arabia on Abuses in Yemen War
On August 9, one day after the Pentagon notified Congress of its intention to sell $1.2 billion in weapons systems to Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led coalition resumed airstrikes on…

The Good and Bad in the US Government’s Civilian Casualties Announcement
The US government on Friday, July 1 released long-sought information on its views as to how many people it has killed in drone and other strikes “outside areas of active hostilities,”…

We Need to Know More About the US’s Role in Yemen
A crowd quickly gathered when I arrived last month in what remained of the market in Mastaba, a small highway town in northern Yemen. A week earlier, on March 15, warplanes from…

The UN Human Rights Council Supports Yemen’s “National Inquiry,” but Is It a Whitewash in the Making?
This week, in what the New York Times described as “a U-turn at the United Nations Human Rights Council,” the Netherlands withdrew a proposal for an international investigation…

The Iran Deal and a New US Strategy for the Middle East
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…

Why not, Secretary Carter?
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has announced that a U.S. drone strike recently killed one of AQAP’s senior commanders, Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi. This would, of course,…

Ten More Strikes the Obama Administration Should Immediately Acknowledge and Investigate
The Obama administration took a long overdue step toward transparency for its “targeted” killing program when it last week openly acknowledged and took responsibility for the…

Just Security’s Guide to the 2016 Presidential Candidates and National Security
The 2016 presidential election is more than 18 months away, but the races are already heating up with Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Hillary Clinton in the running so far.…