Topics
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 International Law Studies (ILS), sometimes referred to as the “Blue Book.” Although there are no major or thematic changes to the...
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 systems (LAWS). While there is no consensus on the meaning of this term, many States, as well as members of a Group of...
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 of 1907, annexed to Hague Convention IV. Contrary to certain interpretations, this term does not impose a more...
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 Force as part of its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Fury takes its first test flights this summer. The goal...
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 property from Ukrainian residents, likely in part to facilitate the transfer of Russian citizens to occupied territories” (see...
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 the murky legal theatre into which he’d be thrust. Captured in late 2024 and sentenced to thirteen years of confinement,...
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. Additional reports shared by Ukraine's intelligence agencies identified nearly two hundred other Chinese nationals also...
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 operating an American-made Bradley M2A2 infantry fighting vehicle, and Russia is believed to possess nearly a dozen others....
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 Ukrainian village of Trudove, during a clearing operation, a Ukrainian combatant, nom de guerre “Cobra,” unexpectedly...
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, 2025, Lithuania announced its decision to withdraw from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,...
50 Years On: Lessons Learned from the Fall of Saigon
April 30, 2025, marked 50 years since the fall of South Vietnam and the complete withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Saigon. On April 29, 1975, the U.S. government began Operation Frequent Wind, an effort to evacuate U.S. citizens and certain vulnerable, displaced...
Time to Treat Hackers Like Satellites: Why Cyber Needs the Outer Space Rulebook
If you want to understand what’s missing in cyberspace, look up. In 1967, at the height of the Cold War, the international community agreed on the Outer Space Treaty (OST), a legal framework that still governs activity beyond Earth today. The foundational insight of...
Attack on the MV Conscience: Issues Related to Blockade Law
The MV Conscience is reportedly a Palau-flagged “passenger vessel” currently operated for a nongovernmental organization (NGO) called the “Freedom Flotilla Coalition.” The coalition, also called the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, is an international activist group formed in...
International Humanitarian Law and the Law of Treaties
The International Law Commission has codified the law of treaties under the benevolent assumption that the drafting and implementation of all treaties, of whatever type, should follow the rules adopted in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). Thus,...
Prosecuting Rwanda for Aggression in the DRC: Legal Feasibility and Challenges
Rwandan involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been reported in two principal forms: first, direct intervention by Rwandan State forces across the border; and second, indirect support for the rebel group M23. UN experts and other observers have...
“Active” Human Shielding and the Law of Armed Conflict
To counter Israel Defense Force (IDF) superiority, Hamas long ago adopted the strategy of human shielding, one widely condemned as unlawful (see, e.g., here, here, and here). But reports have also emerged concerning an alleged practice by some IDF ground units labeled...
Carving Up Ukraine: What About the Azov Sea?
Among other things, the ongoing negotiations to end hostilities in the Russia-Ukraine War include a maritime ceasefire agreement for halting hostilities in the Black Sea. At this stage, no publicly available details exist concerning practice and implementation....
Can Israel Target Iran in Response to Houthi Attacks? Exploring the Threshold of “Substantial Involvement”
Following the Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, May 4, 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate not only against the Houthis, but also against their “patron,” Iran, declaring that such action would take place “at a time...
Analyzing State Support to Non-State Actors – Part II: Response Options and Conflict Classification
As non-State actors assume an increasingly prominent role in international affairs, State support to them as a strategic tool for advancing political objectives has become more common. Such support presents significant challenges to the clear-eyed application of...
Analyzing State Support to Non-State Actors – Part I: Primary Obligations and Attribution
Today, armed conflicts are frequently characterized by State support to non-State actors as a means of advancing the former’s strategic objectives. For instance, Iran continues to enable Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi, and other militia operations throughout the Middle East...
Brian Christian’s The Alignment Problem: A Cautionary Tale to Proponents of LAWS
Brian Christian’s The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values is an accessible, comprehensive look under the hood of contemporary machine learning. The title suggests, and Christian states, “This book is about machine learning and human values: about...
Deterrence Doesn’t Fly in Space: Nuclear Weapons in Outer Space as a Threat of Force
In an interview with German newspaper Die Welt on Friday April 12th, NATO Secretary-General Rutte expressed concern regarding the potential deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in orbit around Earth. While this possibility had already surfaced in 2024, as reported by...
Lieber Studies Series – Military Investigations
Editors’ note: This post is based on the author’s chapter in Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict: Select Issues (Jelena Pejic and Margaret Kotlik eds. 2025), the eleventh volume of the Lieber Studies Series published with Oxford University Press. Military...
Lieber Studies Series – Why the Term “Humanitarian Corridor” is a Misleading Expression
Editors’ note: This post is based on the author’s chapter in Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict: Select Issues (Jelena Pejic & Margaret Kotlik eds. 2025), the eleventh volume of the Lieber Studies Series published with Oxford University Press. “Humanitarian...
Lieber Studies Series – Protecting Civilians During Invasion
Editors’ note: This post is based on the author’s chapter in Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict: Select Issues (Jelena Pejic and Margaret Kotlik eds. 2025), the eleventh volume of the Lieber Studies Series published with Oxford University Press. The United States...
Lieber Studies Series – Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict: Select Issues
Civilian protection is a basic aim and legal obligation of international humanitarian law (IHL) or the law of armed conflict (LOAC). Yet, as recent and ongoing armed conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, and elsewhere demonstrate, State armed forces and...
Cross-Border Drone Strikes Against Mexican Drug Cartels
In April 2025, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations Colby Jenkins testified that U.S. forces did not have legal authority to conduct cross-border drone strikes against drug cartels in Mexico even though President Trump had designated several cartels...
Israel-Hamas 2025 Symposium – Releasing Civilian Hostages and Returning Hostage Remains
On 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters took 251 hostages during its infamous attack on Israel. Although many were Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers, the vast majority were civilians, including children. Since that time, some of the hostages have been released, while the...
Interning a Hacker
Recently, at a workshop at Harvard Law School, I grappled with the question of internment in any international armed conflict (IAC) in the near future. It is a question some are uncomfortable with, although the concept of internment remains legally available under...
The So-Called Principle of Equal Treatment of Belligerents by the Neutral State
Conventional legal wisdom says neutral States owe belligerents equality of treatment (see for example here, p. 282–84, here, p. 237, and here, p. 466). This is largely inaccurate, however. What’s more, it is astonishing how persistently some cling to this erroneous...
Israel-Hamas 2025 Symposium – Reoccupied? The Israel Supreme Court’s Judgment in Gisha v Government of Israel
On March 27, 2025, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as High Court of Justice (HCJ), published its judgment (in Hebrew) in Gisha v Government of Israel. The judgment concerns the passage of relief to the Gaza Strip during the war which began on October 7, 2023. It...
The Disarmament Treaties Prohibiting Anti-Personnel Mines and Cluster Munitions: Separating Fact from Fiction
In recent months, there has been considerable criticism in scholarship, and in opinion editorials in several newspapers, of the content and impact of the two conventional disarmament treaties: the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production...
Judging Battlefield Conduct
Editors’ note: This post is based on the author’s article-length work, “The Rule of Law in Armed Conflict” published in volume 34 of the Minnesota Journal of International Law (2025). The rule of law is an appraisal concept that purports to restrict arbitrariness in...
Using the Proliferation Security Initiative to Disrupt Iran’s Oil Shipments
Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been hostile to the United States and its allies and partners. It is the leading State sponsor of terror in the world. Iran’s nuclear program additionally poses an existential...
Sudan: The Case for Recognising All Conflict-Related Sexual Violence as Torture
Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) is often framed as an unfortunate byproduct of war rather than as an intentional and strategic act of violence. However, a closer examination of CRSV in modern conflicts reveals it is not incidental. As a deliberate weapon...
Conflict Classification in Eastern DRC: IAC, NIAC, or Both?
Enveloped in a myriad of armed conflicts, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recently witnessed a significant escalation of hostilities when the March 23 Movement (M23) seized the provincial capital Goma. The situation received particular scrutiny given the...
Cluster Munitions and Anti-Personnel Land Mines: An Explainer
Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has ignited discussions within and between NATO States concerning the international conventions that ban the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions and anti-personnel landmines, and require the destruction...
Ukraine Symposium – Ukraine’s New Voluntary Report on the Implementation of IHL
In late 2024, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (MoDU) joined a relatively small but growing family of States that has published voluntary reports on implementation of international humanitarian law (IHL) at the domestic level. In other States, such occasions might...
Assessing the Ottawa Anti-Personnel Mine Convention Withdrawals
As security along their borders has deteriorated, Eastern European, Baltic, and Nordic States have scrambled to update and adapt their national defense strategies. Nearly all these States have publicly committed to significantly increase defense spending. To...
How Meaningful is “Meaningful Human Control” in LAWS Regulation?
In recent years, the concept of “meaningful human control” (MHC) has emerged as a key consideration in regulating lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS). This standard seeks to ensure substantial human involvement in overseeing and directing the operational functions...
Israel-Hamas 2025 Symposium – Humanitarian Relief as a Bargaining Chip
Questions concerning the use of the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare have been discussed at length over the course of the past 536 days of war in the Gaza Strip. Some have submitted the intent to starve civilians was evident since the very onset of the...
Targeting Iranian Spy Ships
On March 17, 2025, Al-Hadath, a Saudi news outlet, reported that U.S. forces in the Middle East had targeted and sunk Iran’s newest signals intelligence (SIGINT) ship, the IRINS Zagros (H313), while the spy ship was on station in the Red Sea. Both U.S. and Iranian...
Israel-Hamas 2025 Symposium – Conditionality and the ICC’s Gallant “Starvation as a Method of Warfare” Charge
On 20 May 2024, the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) stated his intention to seek arrest warrants in respect of the situation in Gaza for, amongst others, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Gallant. Amongst the...
Clarifying Neutrality: The Rise of Different Statuses?
With the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, one can witness the rebirth of a classical topic of international law: the law of neutrality. Some argue that neutrality is “obsolete.” An alternative perspective is that a new kind of neutrality, called “qualified...
ENMOD: Dead Letter or Environmental Lifeline?
Editors’ note: This post is derived from the author’s article published in issue 118(3) of the American Journal of International Law. There is little denying that the world is fragile and battered. While our natural environment is resilient, it has been stretched to...
Ukraine Symposium – Russia’s Reproductive Violence in Ukraine: Hidden Atrocities of War
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has inflicted enormous harm on the civilian population, exposing many women, children, and in some cases men, to abuses including sexual and reproductive violence. Although global media often highlight missile strikes and...
Australian Compensation for War Crimes in Afghanistan: A Rights-Based Approach, Not Military Charity, is Needed
In July 2024, Australia adopted a new legal scheme to compensate victims of war crimes committed by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in Afghanistan, which was deployed there from 2001 to 2021, including as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance...
Booby-traps and “Apparently Harmless” Portable Objects
Recent hostilities in eastern Europe and the Middle East have generated significant interest in issues of law of armed conflict (LOAC) compliance. Notably, several incidents have led to close scrutiny of the LOAC rules on the use of booby-traps (see e.g., here, here,...
A New Tool in the Fight Against Impunity for Core International Crimes
Globalisation has made various aspects of our society more efficient over the past century. At the same time, it also brings with it a certain complexity. This is noticeable, for example, in the prosecution of international crimes. In May 2019, on the occasion of the...
Al Hassan Symposium – Fair Trial Guarantees under the Law of Armed Conflict: How Can They Be Realistic for Armed Groups?
The following post by Raphaël van Steenberghe focuses on fair trial guarantees and examines the merits of the Trial Chamber’s judgment in this respect. It also explains how fair trial guarantees, which armed groups’ courts must afford, may be addressed in light of a...
Ukraine Symposium – Sunk in Battle but the War is Not Over: Who Owns the Moskva Now?
The study of underwater cultural heritage, and that of sunken warships, has typically focussed on the legal protections surrounding a site in the years, or often centuries, after the sinking. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has given cause to study the topic in a more...
The New Syria and Its Obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention
On December 8, 2024, after weeks of hostilities, rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured the capital city of Damascus and took control over the Syrian State. This historic development attracted worldwide attention and crystalized after the sudden exile...
Ukraine Symposium – Terrorizing Civilians and the Law of Armed Conflict
Reports from the Kherson Oblast, an area of Ukraine the Ukrainian military recaptured in November 2022, indicate that the Russian military is using drones to target Ukrainian civilians as part of a systematic effort to terrorize the civilian population (see also here,...
The New Crime of Kinocide
Editors’ note: This post is based on the work of The Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes Against Women and Children and its report “Kinocide: Uncovering the Weaponization of Families on October 7, 2023.” On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a concerted and widespread...
The Silent Service: The Law of Armed Conflict’s Blind Spots Regarding Modern Submarine Warfare
Submarines play a critical role in warfare due to their stealth, speed, endurance, and firepower. These attributes make them the “queens of the chessboard” in naval strategy and warfare. Modern submarines provide an array of unique capabilities, including strategic...
Terror, Chaos, and Shame: When Information Operations Constitute War Crimes
The informational dimension of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has provoked important debate around the legal framework applicable to information operations in armed conflict. However, Russia’s weaponization of information goes far beyond Ukraine, with...
One Year On: Are the ICRC’s Principles for Civilian Hackers Shaping the Laws of War?
In October 2023, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) laid down a stark warning: cyber warfare must not spiral into lawless destruction. Their eight rules for civilian hackers and four obligations for States were a bold attempt to align cyber operations...
I Spy: Espionage, Perfidy, and Fighting in the Shadows
In a 2024 Articles of War post, I identified that intelligence gathering, including espionage, is authorized by both treaty and customary international law during armed conflict. For international armed conflicts, the treaty basis is found in Article 24 of the 1907...
Ukraine Symposium – Litigating the Act of Aggression as Human Rights Claims
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reports that since February 2022, there have been 40,176 verified civilian casualties caused by the conflict in Ukraine: 12,340 killed and 27,836 injured. The number of combatant casualties is much higher. President...
Ukraine Symposium – The Continuing Autonomous Arms Race
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags into a grueling war of attrition, both sides are intensifying efforts to achieve a battlefield breakthrough with technological innovation. The invasion has sparked a rapid proliferation of low-cost drones and robotic systems that...
Al Hassan Symposium – A Disappointment for the Victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Timbuktu
Editors’ note: This post is part of a joint symposium hosted by the Armed Groups and International Lawand Articles of War blogs. The symposium addresses the ICC’s judgment in the Al Hassan case. The introductory post is available here. On June 26, 2024, the...
Al Hassan Symposium – The Defences of Duress and Mistake of Law in the Al Hassan Trial Judgment
The following post by Antonio Coco focuses on the defences of duress and mistake of law in the Al Hassan judgment. The post was published on the Armed Groups and International Law as part of the joint Articles of War and AGIL Al Hassan Symposium. ...
Al Hassan Symposium – Justice Served (f)or Justice Denied? – The ICC Trial Chamber’s Approach to the War Crime of Passing Sentences Without a Regularly Constituted Court under Article 8(2)(c)(iv) of the Rome Statute
The following post by Hannes Jöbstl focuses on the ICC Trial Chamber’s approach to the war crime of passing sentences without a regularly constituted court under Article 8(2)(c)(iv) of the Rome Statute. The post was published on the Armed Groups and International...
Al Hassan Symposium – Superior Orders: A (Hopefully) Overlooked Afterthought
Editors’ note: This post is part of a joint symposium hosted by the Armed Groups and International Law and Articles of War blogs. The symposium addresses the ICC’s judgment in the Al Hassan case. The introductory post is available here. In its 822-page judgment in the...
The Presumption of Civilian Status in Cases of Doubt: A Vital Rule in Increasingly Unsettled Times
Editors’ note: This post is drawn from the authors’ article-length work, “Pro patria mori: When States Encourage Civilian Involvement in Armed Conflict” appearing in the International Review of the Red Cross. The price armed conflict demands is human life, and...
The Future of Warfare: National Positions on the Governance of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), such as drones and autonomous missile systems, are no longer a theoretical concern. Indeed, they are finding their way onto the battlefield. Amid growing international concern, States have articulated a range of positions on...
Al Hassan Symposium – International Human Rights Law, Nexus and Non-State Armed Groups: Still a Mystery
The following post by Ezequiel Heffes focuses on a critical issue raised in the Al Hassan judgment that has not received much attention in recent debates related to the case: the possible application of international human rights law to non-State armed groups and the...
Al Hassan Symposium – The ICC’s Coerced Confession Double Standard
Editors’ note: This post is part of a joint symposium hosted by the Armed Groups and International Law and Articles of War blogs. The symposium addresses the ICC’s judgment in the Al Hassan case. The introductory post is available here. On June 26, 2024, the...
Al Hassan Symposium – Towards the Acceptance of the Aggregated Violence Approach?
Editors’ note: This post is part of a joint symposium hosted by the Armed Groups and International Law and Articles of War blogs. The symposium addresses the ICC’s judgment in the Al Hassan case. The introductory post is available here. On June 26, 2024, Trial Chamber...
The Conflict in Eastern DRC and the State Responsibility of Rwanda and Uganda
In late January 2025, a rebel alliance involving the militia group M23 seized control over the town of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Notwithstanding their declaration of a unilateral ceasefire, at the time of...
Al Hassan Symposium – (Re) Introduction
In July of 2023, Articles of War and Armed Groups and International Law jointly launched a series of posts covering the forthcoming trial judgment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Prosecutor v. Al Hassan. The case addressed charges relating to acts by...
Balloons and Drones? The Least of Our Worries Regarding China
“Let's be clear – the PRC does not invest; they extract.” General Laura J. Richardson A map of Panama with the Canal Zone denoted as U.S. Jurisdiction. “The land divided, the world united.” That was the official motto of the Canal Zone, a U.S. territory that seemed to...
Taiwan’s Counter-Lawfare Strategy
In his 2025 New Year address, President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Xi Jinping reiterated his commitment to the reunification of Taiwan. He stated, “no one can ever stop China’s reunification, a trend of the times.” One would hope that he meant peaceful...
Countering Space-Based Weapons of Mass Destruction
Russia’s alleged effort to develop a space-based nuclear weapon threatens to violate the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, undermine international peace and stability, and hold at risk the peaceful use of space for all nations. Other emerging threats, such as China’s...
Beyond Compliance Symposium – Extracting Lessons from the Russia-Ukraine War to Improve Civilian Protection
Editors’ note: This post forms part of the Beyond Compliance Symposium: How to Prevent Harm and Need in Conflict, featured across Articles of War and Armed Groups and International Law. You can find the introductory post here. The symposium invites reflection on the...
The Status of the U.S. Coast Guard’s People, Bases and Equipment, and Vessels Under LOAC
The U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) recently published an article highlighting the integral role the U.S. Coast Guard might play in a future high-intensity conflict. Set in the context of the American Sea Power Project’s fictional War of 2026 scenario, wherein the United...
Beyond Compliance Symposium – Investigating Civilian Harm in an Era of Western Remote Warfare
The following post by Lauren Gould focuses on the changing character of the Western way of war in the 21st century and investigating civilian harm. The post was published on Armed Groups and International Law as part of the joint Articles of War and AGIL Beyond...
Indo-Pacific Legal Topics for Operational Lawyers
The year 2024 was a time of increasing instability for global security. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has resurrected the specter of a world war, in which North Korea is also involved. Perhaps related to that war, November of last year saw an incident in...
Dilemmas of Defense: The U.S. Role in the Iran-Israel Conflict
On April 13, 2024, the Islamic Republic of Iran carried out an unprecedented operation, launching hundreds of drones and cruise missiles toward Israel. Reports indicate that Israel intercepted the majority of these drones and missiles with assistance from the United...
If the “Why” of War Shapes the “How” of Law, Who is Accountable?
The ongoing armed conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza illustrate the dangerous consequences of conflating jus ad bellum and jus in bello. This conflation risks undermining the universality of international humanitarian law (IHL) and reducing international criminal law (ICL)...
Ukraine Symposium – “Public Curiosity” and the North Korean POWs
The Russia-Ukraine international armed conflict, which started with Russia’s takeover of Crimea in 2014 and grew with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, escalated further with the recent involvement of North Korean troops. North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un,...
Beyond Compliance Symposium – Broadening the Lens: Rethinking Civilian Harm within International Humanitarian Law
Editors’ note: This post forms part of the Beyond Compliance Symposium: How to Prevent Harm and Need in Conflict, featured across Articles of War and Armed Groups and International Law. You can find the introductory post here. The symposium invites reflection on the...
When Technology Meets Humanity: Harnessing New and Emerging Technologies at the End of Conflict
New and emerging technologies offer significant contributions toward facilitating the end of conflict and protecting and easing the effects of conflict on the civilian population. Over the past decade and more, security and legal scholars have devoted enormous...
Ukraine Symposium – The Budapest Memorandum’s History and Role in the Conflict
Last month of 2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum, part of an agreement by which Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in return for security assurances by Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The Memorandum, signed...
Israel’s Actions in Syria and the Outer Limits of Self-Defence
Following the fall of the al-Assad regime in Syria, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes across Syria targeting military facilities, weapons and ammunition depots, defence systems, and Syrian naval and aircraft fleets. The targets reportedly housed “chemical...
The Drone Threat, the Laser Response, and the Law – Part II
The first part of this two-part post, described and explained the weapons law principles and rules that apply to suicide or kamikaze drones. It also set forth and explained applicable targeting law principles and rules and addressed the legality of mass attacks...
The Drone Threat, the Laser Response, and the Law – Part I
In conflicts during the last few years, unmanned air weapons, commonly referred to as drones, have increasingly been used to undertake attacks of ground targets. These attacks have recently involved large numbers of these drones, often directed at multiple targets....
LTWRC Nuclear Weapons and International Law Series: Countering Space-Based Weapons of Mass Destruction
Editors’ note: We are pleased to partner with the Law, Technology, and Warfare Research Cell (LTWRC) at the U.S. Air Force Academy to publish links to recordings of their law of war-relevant videos, webinars, and podcasts. Readers can explore our LTWRC links here,...
Common Article 2 and Non-State Reciprocity in the Law of Armed Conflict
Editors’ note: This post is an abbreviated version of an article appearing in the Emory International Law Review Volume 39 (2025). When the States that signed the 1949 Geneva Conventions negotiated the applicability provisions in Common Articles 2 (CA2) and 3 (CA3),...
Year Ahead – Gearing Up for Possible Naval Conflict
Editors’ note: We are pleased to announce that Articles of War has recently added several thematic editors to our staff. Each editor has contributed a post to this year’s Year Ahead series with thoughts on issues or situations they recommend our readers track over the...
Year Ahead – A Year to Refrain from Destructive War Rhetoric
Editors’ note: We are pleased to announce that Articles of War has recently added several thematic editors to our staff. Each editor has contributed a post to this year’s Year Ahead series with thoughts on issues or situations they recommend our readers track over the...
Year Ahead – U.S. Department of Defense and Space Force Commercial Space Strategies
Editors’ note: We are pleased to announce that Articles of War has recently added several thematic editors to our staff. Each editor has contributed a post to this year’s Year Ahead series with thoughts on issues or situations they recommend our readers track over the...
Year Ahead – The Coming Year’s Evolution in the Law of Cyber Operations
Editors’ note: We are pleased to announce that Articles of War has recently added several thematic editors to our staff. Each editor has contributed a post to this year’s Year Ahead series with thoughts on issues or situations they recommend our readers track over the...
Year Ahead – Land Operations
Editors' note: We are pleased to announce that Articles of War has recently added several thematic editors to our staff. Each editor has contributed a post to this year’s Year Ahead series with thoughts on issues or situations they recommend our readers track over the...
Year in Review – 2024
2024 was defined by a landscape of intensifying conflicts, continuous technological advancements (see here and here), and evolving debates over the application of the law of armed conflict (LOAC). The persistent war in Ukraine, the volatile Israel-Hezbollah and...
Criminal Groups as Parties to Non-International Armed Conflicts: The Standard of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador
Editors’ note: This post builds upon the authors’ article-length work, “Is Ecuador Facing a Non-International Armed Conflict Against Organized Crime Groups? Reality, Inconsistencies and Jurisprudential Developments” appearing in the International Review of the Red...
Searching for a Practical Legal Test for the End of Non-International Armed Conflicts
Editors’ note: This post is drawn from the authors’ article-length work, “Establishing a Practical Test for the End of Non-International Armed Conflict” appearing in the International Review of the Red Cross. International humanitarian law (IHL) is an exceptional body...
Killing General Kirillov: Questions and Answers
On December 17, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces, and his assistant were killed in a bomb explosion outside his Moscow apartment building. The bomb was concealed in an electric scooter and...
Dutch District Court Judgment on Military Support to and Trade with Israel
On Friday 13 December 2024, the District Court of the Hague handed down its judgment in a torts case related to the Netherlands’ military support to and trade cooperation with Israel. Al-Haq and nine other civil society organizations (referred to collectively as...
Jus post Bellum as a Key to Sustainable Peace after War
Editors’ note: This post is based on the author’s article-length work, “Jus post bellum: Scope and Assessment of the Applicable Legal Framework” in the International Review of the Red Cross. International humanitarian law (IHL) primarily addresses the outbreak and...
