International Law Commons^™

Security Council Resolution 1887 And The Quest For Nuclear Disarmament, Usman Ahmed, Raghav Thapar

Michigan Journal of International Law

Nuclear weapons pose an increased international threat to security in the modem era. Cheap transportation and the opening of national borders for trade have made it easy for nuclear materials to cross national boundaries. Informal networks have sprouted up, facilitating the proliferation and exchange of nuclear materials and the technology required to turn those materials into weapons. Advances in technology have made it easier to enrich uranium, instilling concerns of increased nuclear weapons proliferation. These changes in technology, the development of informal nuclear networks, and lax security in safeguarding weapons by states such as Russia and Pakistan have fueled global …

European Union Security Landscape Post-9/11: Necessary Protection Or Unjustified Expansion Of A Security Regime?, Colby Mangels

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Nato's Role In The Global War On Terror: Is The Alliance Obsolete?, Benjamin Forster

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Preventing The Financing Of Terrorism, Richard Barrett

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Law And Policy For Cia Targeted Killing, Afsheen John Radsan

Faculty Scholarship

Many critiques of the Central Intelligence Agency’s alleged use of killer drones depend on law that does not bind the United States or on contestable applications of uncertain facts to vague law. While acknowledging a blurry line between law and policy, we continue to develop a due process for targeted killing. In the real world, intelligence is sometimes faulty, mistakes occur, and peaceful civilians are at risk. International humanitarian law, which applies during armed conflicts, demands very little in the way of process beyond the admonition to take feasible precautions. Even so, the intelligence-driven nature of targeted killing, and the …

Sow What You Reap? Using Predator And Reaper Drones To Carry Out Assassinations Or Targeted Killings Of Suspected Islamic Terrorists, Thomas M. Mcdonnell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article explores whether targeted killing of suspected Islamist terrorists comports with international law generally, whether any special rules apply in so-called “failed states,” and whether deploying attack drones poses special risks for the civilian population, for humanitarian and human rights law, and for the struggle against terrorism. Part I of this article discusses the Predator Drone and its upgraded version Predator B, the Reaper, and analyzes their technological capabilities and innovations. Part II discusses international humanitarian law and international human rights law as applied to a state’s targeting and killing an individual inside or outside armed conflict or in …

Where Liberty Lies: Civil Society And Individual Rights After 9/11, David Cole

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Had someone told you, on September 11, 2001, that the United States would not be able to do whatever it wanted in response to the terrorist attacks of that day, you might well have questioned their sanity. The United States was the most powerful country in the world, and had the world’s sympathy in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. Who would stop it? Al Qaeda had few friends beyond the Taliban. As a historical matter, Congress and the courts had virtually always deferred to the executive in such times of crisis. And the American polity was unlikely to object …

A Functional Approach To Targeting And Detention, Monica Hakimi

Articles

The international law governing when states may target to kill or preventively detain nonstate actors is in disarray. This Article puts much of the blame on the method that international law uses to answer that question. The method establishes different standards in four regulatory domains: (1) law enforcement, (2) emergency, (3) armed conflict for civilians, and (4) armed conflict for combatants. Because the legal standards vary, so too may substantive outcomes; decisionmakers must select the correct domain before determining whether targeting or detention is lawful. This Article argues that the "domain method" is practically unworkable and theoretically dubious. Practically, the …

Targeting Co-Belligerents, Jens David Ohlin

Cornell Law Faculty Working Papers

One of the central controversies of the targeted killing debate is the question of who can be targeted for a summary killing. The following chapter employs a novel normative framework: how to link an individual terrorist with a non-state group that threatens a nation-state. Six linking principles are catalogued and analyzed, including direct participation, co-belligerency, membership, control, complicity and conspiracy. The analysis produces counter-intuitive results, especially for civil libertarians who usually eschew status principles in favor of conduct principles. The concept of membership, a status concept central to international humanitarian law, is ideally suited to situations, like targeted killings, that …

Xviii Concluding Remarks: Loac And Attempts To Abuse Or Subvert It, Yoram Dinstein

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The Material Support Prosecution And Foreign Policy, Wadie E. Said

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

After Osama Bin Laden: Assassination, Terrorism, War, And International Law, Louis Rene Beres

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

International Law In Crisis: Challenges Posed By The New Terrorism And The Changing Nature Of War, John F. Murphy

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Preface To The Paperback Edition Of United States, International Law, And The Struggle Against Terrorism, Thomas Michael Mcdonnell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

It is remarkable that in less than two years so many significant developments have taken place that concern the United States and the struggle against transnational terrorism. Perhaps the three most significant are as follows: (1) the Obama administration’s failure to reject wholesale the Bush-Cheney administration’s counterterrorism policies and practices; (2) the popular revolts sweeping the Arab world, often referred to as the “Arab spring”; and (3) the US Navy Seals killing Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Responses To The Ten Questions, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Indefinite Detention Under The Laws Of War, Chris Jenks, Eric Talbot Jensen

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The recent acquittal of the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to stand trial in U.S. federal court on all but one of the 286 charges he faced stemming from the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa has reinvigorated the discussion on indefinite detention under the laws of war. While the issue has been raised in the past, the discussion hasn’t extended beyond stating that the law of war, or law of armed conflict (LOAC) as it is often called, provides a legal basis for detention, including detention for the duration of hostilities. In fact, the Obama Administration has made …

Criminal Reports: United States Of America V. Khadr, Steve Coughlan, Robert Currie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The United States of America sought the extradition of the applicant to face terrorism-related charges. The applicant had been taken into custody by the Pakistani Intelligence Agency, the ISI, and held in a secret detention centre for approximately fourteen months before he was released and repatriated to Canada. He had been interrogated by American FBI agents while in Pakistan and had given them a statement. He also gave a statement to CSIS following his return to Canada, and shortly after that gave a second statement to FBI officials. The applicant sought a stay of proceedings of the extradition hearing on …

The Law Of War In The War Against Terrorism, Michael A. Newton

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The struggle to define the contours of the legal regime and to correctly communicate those expectations to the broader audience of civilians is a recurring problem that is integrally related to the current evolution of warfare. Shaping the expectations and perceptions of the political elites who control the contours of the conflict is perhaps equally vital. The paradox is that as the legal regime applicable to the conduct of hostilities has matured over the last century, the legal dimension of conflict has at times overshadowed the armed struggle between adversaries. As a result, the overall military mission will often be …

Seductive Drones: Learning From A Decade Of Lethal Operations, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

The world’s fleets of unmanned combat vehicles (UCVs) are growing exponentially. This contribution aims to raise awareness that the very existence of UCV technology may well be lowering the inhibitions to kill. At least two sets of data indicate a problem: First, we have evidence from psychological studies that killing at a distance using unmanned launch vehicles may lower the inhibition to kill on the part of operators. Second, we have a decade of evidence of US presidents deploying military force where such force was unlikely to be used prior to the development of UCVs. This evidence indicates that the …

What’S In A Name? How Nations Define Terrorism Ten Years After 9/11, Sudha Setty

Faculty Scholarship

Ten years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, it almost goes without saying that the acts of grotesque violence committed on that day have had enormous effects on national security law and policy worldwide. To be labeled a terrorist, or to be accused of involvement in an act of terrorism, carries far more severe repercussions now than it did ten years ago. This is true under international law and under domestic law in nations that have dealt with serious national security concerns for many years.

Given the U.N.’s global mandate to combat terrorism and that being defined as a …

The Somali Piracy Problem: A Global Puzzle Necessitating A Global Solution, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Over the past few years, piracy has exploded off the coast of Somalia. Somali pirates congregate on a "mother ship" and then divide into smaller groups that sail out on tiny skiffs. Using potent weapons such as AK-47s and hand-propelled grenades, Somali pirates attack civilian ships carrying cargo through the Gulf of Aden, a body of water between Yemen and Somalia. Once they have overtaken the victim vessel, the pirates typically hijack the vessel's cargo and kidnap the crewmembers. The cargo is often resold to willing buyers or held for ransom. The crew are kept hostage in Somalia until either …

Rise Of The Drones: Unmanned Systems And The Future Of War, Kenneth Anderson

Legislative Testimony & Comments

This document is written testimony submitted to the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, for a hearing under the general title of "Rise of the Drones: Unmanned Systems and the Future of War." The hearing covered military, strategic, technological, and economic issues related to unmanned aerial vehicles in military, intelligence, and civilian commercial use. This written testimony addressed certain international law and legal policy issues raised by the use of drones as a means of projecting force. It is primarily addressed to the question of the CIA campaign of drone attacks in Pakistan and beyond, rather than the use …

Should Citizens Be Democratically Represented In The 21st Century International System?, Andrew Strauss

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Democracy is increasingly the sine quo non of legitimate governance at the local, provincial and national levels.

International Legality, The Use Of Military Force, And Burdens Of Persuasion: Self-Defense, The Initiation Of Hostilities, And The Impact Of The Choice Between Two Evils On The Perception Of International Legitimacy, Geoffrey Corn, Dennis Gyllensporre

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutionality Of Torture In A Ticking-Bomb Scenario: History, Compelling Governmental Interests, And Supreme Court Precedents, Riddhi Dasgupta

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Free Speech, Terrorism, And European Security: Defining And Defending The Political Community, Shawn Marie Boyne

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Lawfare" In The War On Terrorism: A Reclamation Project, Melissa A. Waters

Scholarship@WashULaw

In the nine years since Major General Charles Dunlap first coined the term, “lawfare” has strayed considerably from its non-partisan, ideologically neutral origins. Nowhere is this clearer than in the war on terror, where the term is often used as a pejorative label by political pundits who decry as “lawfare” virtually any attempt to apply the rule of law to the conduct of the United States’ war on terror. This essay considers the prospects for reclaiming “lawfare” as a useful term in the war on terror. It explores various conceptions of the term, noting that a more ideologically neutral usage …

Comparative Perspectives On Specialized Trials For Terrorism, Sudha Setty

Faculty Scholarship

On the campaign trail in 2008, presidential candidate and then-Senator Barack Obama promised to restore America’s place in the world by breaking with many of the national security policies put into effect by President George W. Bush. In January 2009, President Obama made numerous changes to United States foreign policy, including signing an executive order to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and announcing that the United States would not engage in interrogation techniques that constitute torture. In some respects, however, Obama has followed the example of President Bush - for example, in his resuscitation of a specialized military …

The Gaza War Of 2009: Applying International Humanitarian Law To Israel And Hamas, Justus Reid Weiner, Avi Bell

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article explores the many international legal issues raised by the Palestinian-Israeli tension along Gaza's borders. It first examines legal issues raised by Palestinian conduct and then turns to legal issues raised by Israeli conduct. As will be demonstrated, criticisms of Israeli behavior ... lack any basis in international law. By contrast, Palestinian behaviors that are rarely criticized constitute severe violations of international law.

Afghanistan And The Nature Of Conflict, Charles Garraway

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.