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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 dialogue depicted by Thucydides in the History of the Peloponnesian War illustrates political realism in international...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
