Military, War, and Peace Commons^™

Operation Nation-Building: How International Humanitarian Law Left Afghanistan Open On The Operating Table, Nina Griscelli

University of Miami Law Review

Military campaigns often carry with them official names and underpinning objectives. In Afghanistan, these campaigns were known as Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, and later, in 2015, as Operation Freedom Sentinel. In total, the United States and its allies remained in Afghan territory for 7,268 days, twenty years, in support of the “Global War on Terror.” Within that time, the democratic construction of a “free” Afghan society—also known as nation-building, regime change, or transformative military occupation—deeply transformed the status quo of the population. To the West, “Operation Nation-Building” became the most strategic and “hopeful alternative to the vision of the …

Parameters Summer 2022, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Dysfunctional Warfare: The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine, Rob Johnson

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was based on false premises, faulty assumptions, and a weak strategy. As the conflict has unfolded, heavy losses have imposed a strain on available Russian manpower. The Russian army reached a culminating point outside Kyiv and has exhibited little sign of operational learning. By contrast, Ukrainians have fought an existential war, making good use of dispersed light infantry tactics with high motivation levels. Western support has allowed them to compensate for their deficiencies in armaments and munitions. This commentary also shows military and policy leaders how the political context continues to impose limitations on the Ukrainians.

Submission Of Amicus Curiae Observations In The Case Of The Prosecutor V. Dominic Ongwen, Erin Baines, Kamari M. Clarke, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

The important questions laid out by the Appeals Chamber in this case highlight the need for the proper delineation and interplay between mental illness and criminal responsibility under international law. Specifically, this case represents a watershed moment for the Appeals Chamber to set a framework for adjudicating mental illness in the context of collectivized child abuse and trauma. This is especially true for former child soldiers who occupy both a victim and alleged perpetrator status.

Is Climate Change A Threat To International Peace And Security?, Mark Nevitt

Michigan Journal of International Law

The climate-security century is here. Both the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) and the U.S. Fourth National Climate Assessment (“NCA”) recently sounded the alarm on climate change’s “super-wicked” and destabilizing security impacts. Scientists and security professionals alike reaffirm what we are witnessing with our own eyes: The earth is warming at a rapid rate; climate change affects international peace and security in complex ways; and the window for international climate action is slamming shut.

Innovative Thinking: Modernizing Outer Space Governance, Diane M. Janosek

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Space security is essential to global safety and prosperity. International treaties should modernize and reflect the world’s innovation in space and governance needs. One must look back to 1967 for the inaugural “Outer Space Treaty,” the first and only binding multilateral agreement for peaceful space use and exploration. In 50 years, technologies and space capabilities have evolved; an updated global treaty and agreement should be developed and evaluated. Both China and Russia have demonstrated their capability to degrade and/or destroy adversaries’ satellites in space. Space wars are no longer a hypothetical. The future once discussed and anxiously anticipated after Sputnik …

Multilateralism, Pushback, And Prospects For Global Engagement?, Michael Donald Kirby The Honourable

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

In this article, the author draws on long engagement with multilateralism, both in domestic jurisdiction and international institutions. He describes the growth of post-War United Nations activities and the increasing impact of international law, including on universal human rights. He records international initiatives on global problems like HI V/AIDS and in individual countries, such as Cambodia and North Korea. He then describes recent examples of '"pushback" against multilateralism, especially on the part of the United States, the United Kingdom, some European countries, and Australia. He concludes with illustrations and reasons why the global community should remain optimistic about multilateralism, despite …

The Dangers Of Humanitarian Intervention And The Responsibility To Protect Doctrine, And A Partial Solution, Matthew Bellinger

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

When the United Nations (UN) was formed, one of its most important goals was to render war obsolete. The UN Charter states as a goal the hope to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." When President Franklin D. Roosevelt first described his vision for a post-World War II international organization, he envisioned an organization that would promote and facilitate "international cooperation . . . to consider and deal with the problem of world relations." He also wanted a council that would "concern itself with peaceful settlement of international disputes." The UN Charter itself took the then-unprecedented step of …

The Cold Vacuum Of Arms Control In Outer Space: Can Existing Law Make Some Anti-Satellite Weapons Illegal?, Jeffrey A. Murphy

Cleveland State Law Review

The current space law paradigm came into existence when two major national powers were vying for supremacy after a catastrophic world war. The nuclear age had dawned. The United Nations drafted and ratified the Outer Space Treaty under these conditions with limited foresight to the specific nature of future space activities. As more nations and private actors enter the space arena, the nature of the weapons used in space has changed, and the number of targets and opportunities for collateral damage has greatly increased.

This Note looks at the weapons aimed at space and the laws that try to govern …

A Memorial For Bosnia: Framework Of Legal Arguments Concerning The Lawfulness Of The Maintenance Of The United Nations Security Council's Arms Embargo On Bosnia And Herzegovina, Craig Scott, Abid Qureshi, Jasminka Kalajdzic, Francis Chang, Paul Michell, Peter Copeland

Craig M. Scott

This Memorial seeks to present a framework of legal arguments with respect to the validity and legal effects of an arms embargo imposed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 713 in September 1991 on the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia), before its dissolution, and since treated as being in force with respect to the new states that have succeeded Yugoslavia. More particularly, the Memorial addresses the legality of maintaining (or, at least, having maintained during the crucial time period) the arms embargo in force, either de jure or de facto, against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia) …

When Can Nations Go To War? Politics And Change In The Un Securtiy System, Charlotte Ku

Charlotte Ku

In an appreciation of Harold Jacobson written for the American Journal of International Law, the author concluded that following the events of September 11, 2001, we would need the kind of gentle wisdom Harold Jacobson brought to his tasks more than ever. The author also recalled Harold Jacobson's own observation in Networks of Interdependence that his assessment of the global political system was an optimistic, but not a naive one. These qualities of quiet determination to get to the bottom of an issue and of optimism stemmed from a fundamental belief that individuals, armed with information and the opportunity …

The Sea Of The Universe: How Maritime Law's Limitation On Liability Gets It Right, And Why Space Law Should Follow By Example, Rachel Rogers

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

"Space law," much like outer space itself, still remains largely un­navigated in some aspects. "Space law" is a term loosely used to dictate the body of law that refers to the international rules and regulations surrounding exploration and behavior while in outer space; while it quite uniformly covers questions of general damage control, international relations, and resource exploration, some areas of this body of law remain ambiguous and only partially implemented across the globe. One of these broad areas is the role of tort law in outer space-liability stemming from spacecraft collision and the resulting damage that occurs between the …

How Two Sunken Ships Caused A War: The Legal And Cultural Battle Between Great Britain, Canada, And The Inuit Over The Franklin Expedition Shipwrecks, Christina Labarge

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Legal Architecture Of United Nations Peacekeeping: A Case Study Of Unifil, Layan Charara

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note explores the ways UNIFIL is a unique peacekeeping force that can still teach broader lessons about UN peacekeeping It is organized into four parts: Part I provides a contour of UN peacekeeping operations; Part II chronicles the history of UNIFIL; Part III analyzes the current legal regime with respect to UN peacekeeping; and Part IV surveys solutions offered in the past and recommends more apposite courses of action to strengthen the legal recourse available to peacekeepers and their families.

Conditions Affecting The Outcome Of Peace Operations In Post-Cold War Africa, Aaron Kyle Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What factors have led to successful outcomes in international peace operations conducted in Sub Saharan African countries? What factors explain mission failure? I proposed a basic theory of peace operations that linked conflict conditions to mandate design to the capability of an intervening force deployed for mission implementation developed from arguments and empirical results of previous research.

Data on 86 peace operations that occurred in 23 African states covering 33 separate conflict periods between 1990 and 2015 was analyzed. My main findings showed that mandates were derived from conflict assessments and determined the size of intervening force required. The results …

The Failure Of International Law In Palestine, Svetlana Sumina, Steven Gilmore

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

The Jus Ad Bellum's Regulatory Form, Monica Hakimi

Articles

This article argues that a form of legal regulation is embodied in decisions at the UN Security Council that condone but do not formally authorize specific military operations. Such decisions sometimes inflect or go beyond what the jus ad bellum permits through its general standards—that is, under the prohibition of cross-border force and small handful of exceptions. Recognizing that this form of regulation is both part of the law and different in kind from regulation through the general standards should change how we think about the jus ad bellum.

The Contributions Of United Nations Security Council Resolutions To The Law Of Non-International Armed Conflict: New Evidence Of Customary International Law, Gregory H. Fox, Isaac Jenkins, Kristen E. Boon

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Anton Weiss-Wendt, The Soviet Union And The Gutting Of The Un Genocide Convention (2017), Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Weiss-Wendt’s book unpacks what happened to “genocide” as it journeyed along this path of codification. To be clear, codification was conditioned by compromise among states; and states were often motivated by Cold War selfishness, spite, manipulation, and machination. The Convention narrowed—and even mangled—the set of protected groups to national, ethnic, racial, and religious. The Convention, moreover, limited the recognized forms that genocide could take. The title of Weiss-Wendt’s book reflects its argument that the expansiveness of genocide as an idea was “gutted” in the process of codifying it in an international treaty.

Legal Status Of Drones Under Loac And International Law, Vivek Sehrawat

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

No abstract provided.

Contemporary Practice Of The United States Relating To International Law, Kristina Daugirdas, Julian Davis Mortenson

Articles

In this section: • United States Abstains on Security Council Resolution Criticizing Israeli Settlements • United States Sanctions Russian Individuals and Entities After Accusing Russian Government of Using Hacking to Interfere with U.S. Election Process; Congressional Committees and Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies Continue to Investigate President Trump’s Connections to Russian Officials • Second Circuit Overturns $655 Million Jury Verdict Against Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority • New Legislation Seeks to Confirm Immunity of Artwork and Facilitate Cultural Exchange • United States Confronts China over Seizure of Unmanned Drone in the South China Sea • International Criminal Court Prosecutor …

The Limits Of Inviolability: The Parameters For Protection Of United Nations Facilities During Armed Conflict, Laurie R. Blank

International Law Studies

This article examines the international legal protections for United Nations humanitarian assistance and other civilian facilities during armed conflict, including under general international law, setting forth the immunities of the United Nations, and the law of armed conflict (LOAC), the relevant legal framework during wartime. Recent conflicts highlight three primary issues: (1) collateral damage to UN facilities as a consequence of strikes on military objectives nearby and military operations in the immediate vicinity; (2) the misuse of UN facilities for military purposes; and (3) direct attacks on fighters, weapons or other equipment that cause damage to such facilities. To identify …

Chemical Weapons And Other Atrocities: Contrasting Responses To The Syrian Crisis, Tim Mccormack

International Law Studies

Why has the use of chemical weapons in Syria engendered such a substantive multilateral response in stark contrast to almost every other egregious international law violation perpetrated against the civilian population? Various theories have been offered but the explanation has little to do with humanitarian concerns for Syrian victims and is more readily explicable by unusual (in the Syrian context) alignment of U.S. and Russian national interests. Bashar al-Assad was convinced to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention, to surrender his stockpiles of chemical weapons and to co-operate with international investigators deployed under UN Security Council auspices amid a cacophony …

Book Review: The Birth Of Nations. By Phillip C. Jessup. New York And London: Columbia University Press, 1974., Sandy Mccormack

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Discussion On Ideology And The Use Of Force, Larman C. Wilson, John Howell, Leslie Road

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Legal Control Of The Use Of Force And The Definition Of Aggression, Donald C. Piper

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Command And Control Of United Nations Forces In The Era Of "Peace Enforcement", James W. Houck

James Houck

This Article explores how concerns regarding the United Nations' authority to make political, strategic, and operational decisions that comprise the right to command and control UN forces might be reconciled within the framework of the United Nations Charter to create a contemporary and more enduring regime for the command and control of United Nations forces. As Part II demonstrates, command and control issues are not new to the United Nations; indeed, in 1945 the signatories to the United Nations Charter created a model for the command and control of United Nations forces. While the cold war ensured that this model …

The Commander In Chief And United Nations Charter Article 43: A Case Of Irreconcilable Differences?, James W. Houck

James Houck

Part II of this paper provides an overview of the U.N. Charter's framework for collective security, with a particular focus on the Charter's provision for the. creation, command, and control of U.N. military forces. During the Cold War, this framework fell into desuetude, and U.N. forces that participated in enforcement actions, such as Korea and Iraq, as well as peacekeeping operations, were created in ad hoc fashion outside the Charter's framework. Part III examines this development and considers how the conclusion of an Article 43 agreement might alter the President's authority under international law to pursue U.S. interests while participating …

False Rubicons, Moral Panic & Conceptual Cul-De-Sacs: Critiquing & Reframing The Call To Ban Lethal Autonomous Weapons, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Casting into the indeterminate future and projecting visions of so-called killer robots, The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots (The Campaign) has incited moral panic in an attempt to stimulate a discussion and ultimately a ban on lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS). Their efforts have been superficially successful but come at a self-defeating substantive cost. In the hope of shifting the dialogue from the hyperbolic to a constructive dialogue on the interaction between human and machine abilities in both current and future weapon systems, this article explores the conceptual paradox implicit in The Campaign and proposes an alternative.

Having provoked the international …

The Distraction Of Full Autonomy & The Need To Refocus The Ccw Laws Discussion On Critical Functions, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The United Nations (UN) Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) discussions on lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS) have been confused, not constructive, and largely for the same definitional reasons identified two years ago. This paper attempts to address why the dialogue at the UN LAWS dialogue has proceeded as it has and proposes how it should proceed at the likely group of government expert meetings in 2017-2018. This paper focuses on the problems created by framing the LAWS discussion in terms of full autonomy and suggests that CCW States Parties refocus on the critical functions of selecting and engaging targets. The …