Latest in International Law
How has the debate over pre-emptive strike capabilities been legally framed in Japan? What are its implications for U.S. national security policy?
What are the international law obligations for the SDF and its allies to maintain conditions in prisons housing alleged Islamic State fighters?
The U.S. government should start thinking now about how states might apply law tech to international law settings and should consider how foreign governments, especially China’s, might use it in ways that cut against U.S. foreign policy goals.
When a state suffers an internationally wrongful act at the hands of another state, international law allows the injured state to respond in a variety of ways. Depending on the nature, scope, and severity of the initial wrongful act, lawful responses can range from a demand for reparations in response to a low-level violation to a forcible act of self-defense in response to an armed attack. Countermeasures offer an additional way for a state to respond to an internationally wrongful act.
The Summer 2020 Supplement for Bradley, Deeks, & Goldsmith, Foreign Relations Law: Cases and Materials (7th ed. 2020) is now available on Lawfare.
The president recently announced his intention to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty and is considering restarting nuclear testing. Dana, Jamil, Jodi and Les discuss the state of arms control and how the U.S. should approach international agreements. Is it better for the United States to model behavior by staying in bad treaties or leave them? Can the U.S. prioritize non-proliferation and modernization of the nuclear triad? How should we deal with our allies who are stuck in the middle? All these questions and more answered in this week’s Fault Lines.
The United States needs a theory of sanctions, based on honest reflection and study of how economic pressure can and can’t induce the types of behavioral changes that policymakers aim for.
Yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
The United States claims to have “exercised its inherent right of self-defense” in accordance with Article 51 of the U.N. Charter in conducting a drone strike in Iraq targeting Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani.
While the United States prohibits assassination as a matter of national policy, not every killing violates this ban. And even if the killing did not have an international legal basis, it may not necessarily constitute an assassination under the U.S. government’s definition of the term.