Law Commons^™

Arguing About The Jus Ad Bellum, Monica Hakimi

Book Chapters

In January 2020, the United States conducted a targeted airstrike against Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who at the time was on official business in Iraq. Soleimani had commanded an Iranian military unit that supported armed groups throughout the region, including in Iraq. He likely was involved, directly or indirectly, in countless incidents of low-level violence against the United States and its allies. Nevertheless, the US attack on him was especially brazen and seemed to up the ante. It raised the possibility, or at least created some chatter, that the two countries were heading toward all-out war.

Most analysts who assessed …

International Legal Argumentation: Practice In Need Of A Theory, Ian Johnstone, Steven R. Ratner

Other Publications

In a decentralized global system that lacks the formal trappings of domestic governance systems, most disputes between and among states and non-state actors never reach either a domestic or an international courtroom for authoritative resolution. This state of affairs continues, even with the creation of new international tribunals in recent decades. Despite, indeed because of, the relative scarcity of judicial settlement of disputes, international legal argumentation remains pervasive, but notably in a range of nonjudicial settings. States, corporations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and even guerrilla groups make claims in international legal terms in political bodies like the United Nations’ organs or …