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
Category: Issue Archive
Totality of the Circumstances: The DOD Law of War Manual & the Evolving Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities
Major Ryan Krebsbach argues that the US Department of Defense Law of War Manual appropriately balances the need to protect civilians against the necessity of ensuring that individuals do not use the law of armed conflict to escape being lawfully targeted despite their material support for non-State armed forces. In contrast to the narrower definition… Continue reading Totality of the Circumstances: The DOD Law of War Manual & the Evolving Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities
Global Health Security in an Era of Explosive Pandemic Potential
As part of his keynote address at JNSLP’s 2016 symposium—Strengthening National Security by Protecting Public Health—Professor Lawrence Gostin advocates for strengthening and reforming national and international global health security institutions in order to better prepare for future global epidemics. Global Health Security in an Era of Explosive Pandemic Potential