Did the United States Just Bomb Ecuador?
The Trump administration reportedly conducted a joint airstrike in Ecuador on March 6 against a dissident FARC faction, partnering with Ecuadorian forces. The operation was announced via Southern Command and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s social‑media posts and later classified in a March 9 War Powers report as “hostilities,” triggering the 60‑day withdrawal clock. This strike expands the administration’s anti‑narco campaign from maritime to land operations, raising constitutional and legal concerns about executive war‑making. Congress now faces pressure to respond to an unauthorized use of force in the Western Hemisphere.
Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve
Beginning September 2, 2025, the U.S. military launched a series of lethal strikes against vessels suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, framing the campaign as a non‑international armed conflict with criminal gangs. On January 3, 2026,...
Collection: Just Security’s Coverage of Trump Administration Executive Actions
On Jan. 20, President Trump issued 26 executive orders, launching a wave of policy changes across trade, immigration, national security, and the environment. Just Security has compiled a continuously updated collection that includes a legal‑challenge tracker, a “What Just Happened” explainer...
Iranian Attacks on the Amazon Data Centers: A Legal Analysis
Iran launched Shahed‑136 drone strikes on Amazon Web Services data centers in the UAE on March 1 and a third site in Bahrain shortly after, causing fires, power outages and prolonged service disruption. The attacks occurred amid an international armed conflict...
Grok Showed the World What Ungoverned AI Looks Like
The International AI Safety Report warned that AI advances outpace safeguards, a warning made stark by xAI’s Grok chatbot flooding the internet with sexualized deepfakes, including images of minors. Governments from Malaysia to the United States reacted with bans, investigations,...
A Year Later – What Did the Pause on FCPA Enforcement Do?
In February 2025 the Trump administration halted implementation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, prompting a sharp decline in both DOJ criminal convictions and SEC civil actions. The SEC’s dedicated FCPA unit was disbanded, staffing cuts hit the DOJ fraud...
Sinking Iran’s Frigate IRIS Dena and the Law of Naval Warfare
On March 4, the U.S. attack submarine USS Charlotte launched two MK‑48 torpedoes that sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena about 20 nautical miles off Sri Lanka. The warship, returning from multinational exercises, sank within minutes, leaving roughly 30 survivors and dozens of casualties....
Digest of Recent Articles on Just Security (Feb. 28-Mar. 6, 2026)
Just Security released a weekly digest (Feb. 28‑Mar. 6, 2026) that aggregates new legal scholarship on a range of security issues. The collection spotlights intensive analysis of the U.S.–Israel–Iran conflict, including pre‑emptive strike doctrine and international reactions, while also covering the Russia‑Ukraine war,...
Artificial Urgency: Reflecting on AI Hype at the 2026 REAIM Summit
The third REAIM Summit in A Coruña shifted focus from abstract debates to concrete steps for governing military AI, highlighting the gap between rapid AI development and slow defence procurement cycles. Participants warned that hype‑driven narratives obscure technical realities, risking...
Early Edition: March 5, 2026
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the Strait of Hormuz is closed to U.S., Israeli, European and other Western ships as Iran escalates its war with Israel and the United States. U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed 920 Iranians and prompted Iranian...
For Lasting Stability, Venezuela Needs a Peace Process
U.S. Delta Force captured President Nicolás Maduro in December, installing Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as acting leader with a narrow mandate to open the oil sector to American firms. Analysts argue that Venezuela’s long‑term stability hinges on a comprehensive peace...
Was Targeting Ayatollah Khamenei and Other Iranian Leaders Lawful? What Precedents Does It Set?
The latest Israel‑U.S. campaign that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials raises complex questions about the law of armed conflict (LOAC). Under LOAC, state leaders can be lawfully targeted if they are combatants or civilians directly participating...
Double Preemption, Imminence, and the U.S. Attack Against Iran
U.S. officials, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, framed the March 2026 strike on Iran as a pre‑emptive, or anticipatory, act of self‑defense, arguing that an imminent Israeli attack would trigger Iranian retaliation against U.S. bases. The justification hinges...
How a Broadly Defined Counterterrorism Statute Could Be Abused
A superseding indictment in Texas adds material‑support‑to‑terrorism charges under 18 U.S.C. § 2339A to nine defendants accused of shooting a police officer during a July 4, 2025 protest at an ICE detention center. The statute, originally crafted to disrupt terrorist logistics, does not require proof...
Russia’s Big War at Four: Ukraine Keeps Fighting and Keeps Talking
Ukraine has emerged from its harshest winter with its power grid crippled by Russian attacks that cut electricity production by roughly 80%, yet civilian life in Kyiv continues thanks to generators and restored heating. On the battlefield, the front remains...
The Trump Administration’s Theory of Constitutional War Powers: “The President Could Decide”
The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel released a memorandum justifying the Trump administration’s 2025 Venezuela operation, revealing that the memo places the decision on the president’s authority rather than providing an independent legal determination. It concedes a lack of...
International Reactions to Military Strikes on Iran: A Tipping Point for the UN Charter?
President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces have launched major combat operations against Iran, a move widely regarded as a clear breach of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. An emergency UN Security Council session is convening to address the violation....
Digest of Recent Articles on Just Security (Feb. 23-27, 2026)
Just Security’s weekly digest (Feb. 23‑27, 2026) aggregates more than a dozen expert pieces on international law, security, and U.S. policy. Highlights include a two‑part analysis of a lawful peace for Ukraine, a court‑focused critique of ICE and CBP actions, an updated...
Risk of Renewed War in Tigray: Painful Reminders From Ethiopia’s Last War Demand Action to Prevent Another
Renewed fighting erupted in Ethiopia’s Tigray region in January, prompting flight suspensions and mass cash withdrawals as civilians feared a repeat of the 2020‑2022 war. The previous conflict killed up to 600,000 people, displaced millions, and inflicted widespread sexual violence,...
How to Prevent the U.N. Global Counterterrorism Strategy Negotiations From Blowing Up
The United Nations will adopt the ninth Global Counter‑terrorism Strategy (GCTS) by June, marking the 20th anniversary of the original resolution. Recent budget turmoil and Security Council tensions have raised doubts about achieving consensus among 192 member states. Co‑facilitators from...
Early Edition: February 25, 2026
The United States dispatched a dozen F‑22 Raptor jets from the United Kingdom to Israel and has moved more than 150 aircraft to bases across Europe and the Middle East following the collapse of the second round of nuclear talks...
The Army Clause: A Forgotten Constitutional Check on ICE, CBP, and the Pentagon
Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, granting $170 billion for ICE, CBP, DHS and the Pentagon over four years, effectively sidestepping the Constitution’s two‑year funding limit for standing armies. The article argues this multi‑year appropriation violates the Army Clause,...
U.S. Allies and Adversaries’ Reactions to Operation Absolute Resolve to Capture Maduro
On Jan. 3 the United States launched Operation Absolute Resolve, a raid that bombed Venezuela’s air defenses, engaged in a gun battle and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, resulting in at least 100 deaths. The UN Security Council...
From Commitment to Action: The Next Steps in Holding Russia’s Leaders Accountable for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine
The Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (STCA) was formalised on 25 June 2025 by Ukraine and the Council of Europe, creating a dedicated venue to prosecute Russian leaders for the war of aggression. The ICC lacks jurisdiction because...
New U.S.–AU Infrastructure Working Group Could Thrive With Strong Values-Based Safeguards
U.S. Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau and African Union Chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf announced a Strategic Infrastructure and Investment Working Group to deepen U.S.–AU cooperation on trade‑enabling projects. The initiative marks a shift from bilateral deals toward a continent‑wide partnership, but...
Suspend Your Judgment? The Role of International Courts in Ending Wars
International courts are increasingly handling wars as they unfold, moving from traditional dispute settlement to real‑time adjudication. The Balkan conflicts set a precedent, while recent cases involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel‑Hamas hostilities illustrate both the ambition and limits...
Governments Need to Disrupt the Business of War Crimes: And No, Sanctions Are Not Enough
The article argues that war crimes and other international atrocities function as lucrative enterprises, yet they are rarely pursued through financial investigations. It calls for extending the global anti‑money‑laundering (AML) framework to treat the proceeds of war crimes as predicate...
Asia’s Administrative Arms Race: How U.S.-China Strategic Competition Is Reshaping Economic Statecraft
China has invoked its Export Control Law to ban dual‑use exports to Japan and tighten rare‑earth licensing, signaling a new escalation in its diplomatic dispute with Tokyo. The move follows a broader trend of Beijing building offensive economic statecraft tools,...
Early Edition: February 11, 2026
President Trump signaled a possible second U.S. carrier strike group to the Middle East if talks with Iran collapse, while U.S. forces in Qatar have mounted Patriot missiles on mobile launchers for rapid response. Washington also issued a draft demanding...