Michael Schmitt and Christopher Ford unpack the Trump Administration’s legal justifications for the April 2017 United States attack on a Syrian airfield in response to its use of chemical weapons against civilians. Schmitt and Ford discuss three possible legal bases for the use of force: self-defense, response to an internationally wrongful act, and humanitarian intervention.… Continue reading Assessing US Justifications for Using Force in Response to Syria’s Chemical Attacks: An International Law Perspective
Tag: International Law
The Covert Action Statute: The CIA’s Blank Check?
MAJ Peter Combe argues that the covert action statute prohibits the Central Intelligence Agency from violating self-executing treaties to which the United States is party, as well as non-self-executing treaties and customary international law implemented by statute, but it provides domestic legal authority to violate non-self-executing treaties and customary international law that have not been… Continue reading The Covert Action Statute: The CIA’s Blank Check?
International Law & Military Strategy: Changes in the Strategic Operating Environment
In this article, Kevin Rousseau explores the ways in which the modern focus on international humanitarian law has affected strategic decisions of both weak and major powers. Rousseau provides examples of “lawfare” in action and concludes by observing that waning principles of sovereignty require the state to adapt to the changing international legal operating environment… Continue reading International Law & Military Strategy: Changes in the Strategic Operating Environment