Armed Conflict

Just Security’s expert authors provide analysis on the legal, policy, and strategic dimensions of armed conflict, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war, counterterrorism operations, conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, and other armed conflicts across the globe, with a focus on international humanitarian law, war crimes and accountability, mitigating and remedying civilian harm, and the humanitarian impacts of warfare.

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3,373 Articles
The U.S. Capitol Building against a sunset

Nine Stories That Deserved More Attention in 2025 – and Might Shape 2026

What stories or topics merited more attention in 2025, and which might inform law and policy conversations in 2026?
A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II taxis at a base in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Dec. 19, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Operation Hawkeye Strike: Attacking ISIS in Syria and International Law

International law, the new Syrian government, and U.S. military strikes against ISIS

Jus Ad Bellum: Syllabus Supplements

This syllabus supplement offers curated articles intended to be combined with traditional course books and other materials in a law school or higher education classroom.
Two crude oil tankers

Blockading Venezuela: The International Law Consequences

Expert analysis of the announced U.S. military blockade of Venezuela
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt answers questions during a press briefing

Was the Visit and Seizure of the Skipper off the Coast of Venezuela Lawful?

Experts examine the international law basis of the U.S. boarding and seizure of a vessel carrying Venezuelan crude.
Aerial view of the Pentagon

The International Law Obligation to Investigate the Boat Strikes

Operation Southern Spear’s lethal boat strikes are unlawful under IHRL and, even on the administration’s own terms, trigger binding LOAC and DoD duties to investigate.
Collage of images pertaining to artificial intelligence

Just Security’s Artificial Intelligence Archive

Just Security's collection of articles analyzing the implications of AI for society, democracy, human rights, and warfare.
A bullet proof vest carrying a patch with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) flag and a ballistic helmet are lying in an empty road that stretches into the background, alongside other personal belongings. Mountains can be seen stretching across the photo in the background.

Rwanda–DRC Peace Deal: Trump Owns It. Now What?

Trump's Rwanda-DRC peace deal inherits six months of failed implementation, unmet security commitments, and a worsening humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo.

The Law on Targeting Shipwrecked Drug Traffickers: Expert Backgrounder

Detailing how, under different scenarios, international law and U.S. past practices apply to Sept. 2 boat strike on survivors.
In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) greets US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (L) prior to their talks in Moscow on April 25, 2025. (Photo by KRISTINA KORMILITSYNA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Why a Ukraine-Russia Amnesty Would Violate Geneva Convention Obligations

An amnesty in any future peace plan would be unlawful and a moral abdication of the pursuit of accountability for victims in Russia's war in Ukraine.
A member of the Ukrainian army and a policeman stand near body bags exhumed from a mass grave where civilians where buried in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on April 13, 2022, amid Russia's military invasion launched on Ukraine. - A visit by the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor to Bucha -- the Kyiv suburb now synonymous with scores of atrocities against civilians discovered in areas abandoned by Russian forces -- came as the new front of the war shifts eastward, with new allegations of crimes inflicted on locals. (Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

History and International Law Proscribe Amnesties for Russian War Crimes

Compromising on prosecutions for Russian atrocities would erode the system of international justice built since Nuremberg and undermine the rule of law itself.
A young boy looks on at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah on December 9, 2025, which resulted in a Palestinian man being killed.

An Analysis of Resolution 2803 and the International Stabilization Force: A Militarized Enforcement Mission with Precarious Legal and Strategic Implications

UN Resolution 2803 authorizes a Gaza stabilization force under U.S. guidance, raising questions about legality, impartiality, and risks to Palestinian self-rule.
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