Articles of War
War Reloaded: The Erosion of Norms and the Urgency of Prevention
After decades of cautious optimism about the global decline of warfare, recent trends paint a far more troubling picture. Civilians are increasingly caught in the crossfire, non-State armed groups and private military contractors proliferate, and new technologies are...
featured post
Legal Protection of the Media in Armed Conflict: Gaza
On May 15, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike on Al Jalaa Tower, a 12-story building in the Gaza Strip. Conducted as part of Operation Guardian of the Walls, the attack destroyed the tower, which housed the Associated Press and Al Jazeera...
Israel’s Operation Rising Lion and the Right of Self-Defense
On Friday morning, June 13, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Rising Lion, a major strike against Iranian nuclear infrastructure...
Asia’s Melian Moment
Prior to the siege of Melos, the Melians argued that they had the right to remain neutral when the Athenians demanded their surrender. The famous...
A Map to the Second Edition of the Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare
The U.S. Naval War College has recently published its second edition of the Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare as volume 105 of...
Military AI as Sociotechnical Systems
Concern about incorporation of AI into the use of weapons over the last several years has focused overwhelmingly on lethal autonomous weapons...
Article 23(g) Imperative Military Necessity Imposes No Higher Standard than Ordinary Military Necessity
This post addresses the requirement for “imperative military necessity” to justify property destruction under Article 23(g) of the Hague Regulations...
Diverging Standards in the Legal Review of LAWS
In May 2025, Anduril Industries publicly unveiled Fury (YFQ-44A), a next-generation autonomous aircraft currently under evaluation by the U.S. Air...
Ukraine Symposium – Seizure of Private Real Property and Transfer of Civilians into Occupied Territory
In May 2025, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that “Russia is inventorying real estate in occupied Ukraine in order to seize...
Ukraine Symposium – Russia’s Trial of Australian Oscar Jenkins: Status, Legitimacy, and Lawfare
When Australian national Oscar Jenkins crossed into Ukraine and picked up arms, he likely anticipated danger. What he may not have anticipated was...
Ukraine Symposium – Release of Chinese POWs in Ukraine
In early April, reports emerged indicating that Ukraine had captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine....
Ukraine Symposium – Captured Enemy Weapons
The Russian military has fielded a new weapon in its conflict with Ukraine. In recent weeks, at least one frontline Russian unit was observed...
Hand-to-Hand Combat, “Double-Tapping,” “Dead-Checking,” and the Issue of “Last Mercy” Under IHL
Last November, a video depicting one of the most brutal encounters of the Russo-Ukrainian war circulated widely across social media. In the small...
Leaving Ottawa: Lithuania Denounces the Anti-Personnel Mines Convention
Significant changes are happening on NATO’s eastern flank. In 2024 Lithuania denounced the Convention on Cluster Munitions. More recently, on May 8,...
