Use of Force
Of Hague Law and Geneva Law
For specialists of the law of armed conflict, the term “Hague Law” (HL) designates the rules related to the conduct of hostilities, the so-called means and methods of warfare. Meanwhile, the term “Geneva Law” (GL) refers to the rules concerning the protection of...
Israel – Hamas 2023 Symposium – International Law “Made in Israel” v. International Law “Made for Israel”
International lawyers inside and outside Israel have long been critical of Israel’s tendency to rely on very specific and problematic interpretations of international law to justify certain military acts and foreign policies (see e.g., here, here, and here). Such...
The U.S. Turkish Drone Shootdown Over Syria and the Jus Ad Bellum
In early October, the United States shot down an armed Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) operating over Syrian airspace with an F-16 fighter jet. The aerial engagement was unusual, if not unprecedented, in that it targeted an aircraft belonging to “one of...
Israel – Hamas 2023 Symposium – Iran’s Responsibility for the Attack on Israel
One important question that arises from Hamas’s surprise offensive against Israel relates to Iran’s involvement in the attack. According to the Wall Street Journal, Iran’s role was significant. Iranian security officials helped to plan the attack and “gave the green...
Israel – Hamas 2023 Symposium – The Legal Context of Operations Al-Aqsa Flood and Swords of Iron
On Saturday morning, the armed wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a brutal surprise attack into Israel that included a barrage of over 3,000 missiles and the air, sea, and land penetration of Israeli territory. This was...
The Evolving Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict – An International Law Perspective – Part I
Editors’ Note: This post is the first in a two-part series addressing international legal issues related to the ongoing situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. On 19 September, Azerbaijan launched an “anti-terror” operation into Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan that...
Islamic Jihadism and the Laws of War
In my position as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regional legal coordinator in the Middle East and North Africa for the last ten years, I’ve had the sad privilege to witness the ugly wars between various States and the Islamic jihadist groups that...
Military Aid to Russia and International Law
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, is in Russia to discuss military support, including supplying artillery shells and rockets, for Russian operations against Ukraine. In the past, North Korea has supplied the Wagner Group with arms and ammunition. Its support to...
Ukraine Symposium – Territorial Acquisition and Armed Conflict
Soon after the outbreak of its international armed conflict with Ukraine in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea. Eight years later, it also annexed territory around the four Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. In each case, the annexations, which...
The Niger Coup and the Prospect of ECOWAS Military Intervention: An International Law Appraisal
On 26 July 2023 the Nigerien military, led by the Head of the Presidential Guard General Abdourahamane Tchiani, seized power from the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, and suspended the constitution. President Bazoum, along with his family, have been...
Large-Scale Combat Operations Symposium – Counterterrorism Thinking and “Large-Scale Combat Operations”
Editor’s note: The following post highlights a subject addressed during an expert workshop that the Lieber Institute co-convened alongside Harvard Law School’s Program on International Law and Armed Conflict and the International Committee of the Red Cross, focusing...
Are States Aiding and Assisting Ukraine and Russia Using Force?
The provision of military aid and assistance from States supporting Ukraine and Russia has been a salient theme in their international armed conflict following Russia’s renewed invasion in February 2022. As of late March 2023, for instance, over fifty States have...
Subscribe
