Thanks to the PIL Discussion Group for a great conversation!

Are you in Oxford on November 6? If so, consider joining me for my talk, "War Unbound"! Details below.

If you are in London on November 5, consider joining me for this conference on "The U.S. & International Law in a Changing World." Register for free here: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-us-and...

We warmly invite you to our second PIL Discussion Group event of this term, scheduled for next Thursday, 6 November 2025. Prof @oonahathaway.bsky.social will deliver a talk entitled ‘War Unbound’. For more information and to register for the event, see here: www.law.ox.ac.uk/content/even....

Today 11:30: JS Editors @oonahathaway.bsky.social and @adhaque.bsky.social on "Customary International Law What Role Can it Play in Responding to Contemporary Global Crises?” #ILW2025 Oona’s analysis: www.justsecurity.org/author/hatha... Adil’s analysis: www.justsecurity.org/author/haque...

If you are in Berlin, please join me for my talk, "War Unbound," on Monday evening at the Freie Universität Berlin! Details here: www.jura.fu-berlin.de/fachbereich/...

Join us for the keynote lecture by Prof. Oona A. Hathaway @oonahathaway.bsky.social marking the launch of the JuDem Project at CCRD @humboldtuni.bsky.social 🗓️ Nov 17, 2025 | 18:00 📍 Humboldt Graduate School, Festsaal Luisenstr. 56, 10117 Berlin Registration: bit.ly/4n0xNqa

Susan was not only a pioneer; she was a genuinely kind person. While interning for NPR in 1992, I prepared her briefing book and staffed her at the Republican Convention in Houston. I was 19 and had a lot to learn. I feel so grateful for the chance to see her brilliance and humanity in action.

Glad to talk with Claudia Grisales for this @npr.org story on the Venezuelan boat strike and Congress's failure to play any meaningful role. www.npr.org/2025/09/14/n....

If you are in Berlin, consider joining me at the American Academy in Berlin for my fellows talk, "War Unbound," on October 23 at 7:30 pm. (Those not in Berlin can watch the livestream.) Sign up here: www.americanacademy.de/event/war-un...

Glad to talk with Claudia Grisales for this @npr.org story on the Venezuelan boat strike and Congress's failure to play any meaningful role. www.npr.org/2025/09/14/n....

In recent days, the EU announced that it is considering creative new ways to use Russia's frozen central bank assets to support Ukraine. Russia is threatening retaliation. For a deep dive into the legal issues involved, take a look at our recent article: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Anti-satellite weapons are proliferating and now include the prospect of a nuclear-armed satellite capable of wiping out our entire communications infrastructure. We tackle the many hard legal issues this new reality raises @nyulawreview.bsky.social. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

“The decision to blow up the boat and kill everyone onboard when interdiction and detention was a clearly available option is manifestly illegal and immoral" -- sad have to make such an obvious point, but here we are. Read the whole piece: www.cnn.com/2025/09/10/p...

It was an honor to speak at the opening of the @hertieschool.bsky.social academic year yesterday in Berlin. I so enjoyed the chance to welcome the students and the conversation with Violeta Moreno-Lax and Pierre Thielbörger!

This was a great conversation about the value and future of international law. Take a listen. open.spotify.com/episode/3j4y...

President Trump's executive order purporting to rename the Department of Defense is just one more piece of evidence that he's prepared to destroy the postwar legal order. Here's why that matters: nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

It's out! "Recognition Rules: The Case for a New International Law of Government Recognition" Published in @nyulawreview.bsky.social, with coauthors Justin Cole and Alaa Hachem. You can download it for free here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

"If prohibition on use of force is falling apart, we must not simply mourn the loss. We must consider what we can do to protect against most catastrophic effects of this shift & seize opportunity to build a new, more resilient, more equitable int legal order." carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

New Podcast alert: Might unmakes right with Professor Oona Hathaway | The Ballpark podcast blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...

Is the Prohibition on the Use of Force Collapsing? My latest @carnegieendowment.org, with Stewart Patrick: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

Bolton is not the most sympathetic figure, but the investigation of him is a product of a system of mass over-classification that creates opportunities for selective prosecution and undermines U.S. national security. I explain this and more in "Secrecy's End": papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

On Lawfare Daily, Mykhailo Soldatenko sat down with @oonahathaway.bsky.social to discuss how the current world events are harming the norm prohibiting the use of force in international relations, why that's troubling, and what to do about it. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...

Thanks to Sissy Katsoni for inviting me to participate in this symposium, "The Person behind the Academic." voelkerrechtsblog.org/chatting-wit...

The International Court of Justice has issued a blockbuster advisory opinion on climate change (journal.un.org/en/the-hague...). How can this opinion be enforced? This article offers some answers: "The World Court's Enforcement Dilemma--And How to Solve It" papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

War is changing, and the law hasn't yet caught up. Listen to my conversation with @katharinefortin.bsky.social @weigand.bsky.social and @peasantpedant.bsky.social about this and more:

Brave and important warning by a group of Israeli scholars regarding "the plan to concentrate the population of Gaza in a so-called 'humanitarian city'": "If implemented, the plan would constitute a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and . . . could amount to the crime of genocide."

NOW at backgroundbriefing.org | @farhip.bsky.social - Another Big Media Company Caves to Trump's Extortion | Patrick Sullivan - Four of the Worst Horrors in the Awful Republican Megabill | @oonahathaway.bsky.social - As Trump Uses War and the Threat of War, He Ignores the UN and the US Congress

Grateful for the opportunity to write with @oonahathaway.bsky.social & @azmatzahra.bsky.social + work with @yalelawjournal.bsky.social on "The Dangerous Rise of 'Dual-Use' Objects in War": www.yalelawjournal.org/article/the-.... More on data & methods here: dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtm...

It's out! The Dangerous Rise of "Dual-Use" Objects in War Coauthored with @mararevkin.bsky.social and @azmatzahra.bsky.social. We show that the targeting of dual-use objects over the last several decades has placed civilians at great risk. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Frustrated by the UN Security Council's failure to act? Unfortunately formal amendments to the UN Charter can be vetoed by the same states that are vetoing effective responses to global crises. But here are some ideas for reforming the UN that can't be vetoed: download.ssrn.com/2025/1/16/48...

Glad to talk to @gracesegers.bsky.social for this @newrepublic.com article on Congress's failure to prevent presidents from using force without seeking authorization--and why that doesn't make the Iran strikes legal. newrepublic.com/article/1973...

Glad to talk with Linda Kinstler for this @theguardian.com long read. The situation may not be quite as dire as the title suggests, but the challenges are very very real. It's time for creative thinking about what comes next. www.theguardian.com/law/2025/jun...

Great piece by @jacobhacker.bsky.social in @nytimes.com. "The bill is awful for most Americans in many ways. Here are four of the worst." www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/o...

Here, @scottjshapiro.bsky.social and I consider the collapse of the prohibition on the use of force and the likely consequences: a global arms race, wars of conquest, shrinking trade, and the end of global cooperation. We chart another potential path, but it would require courage and quick action.

"The [] rise of authoritarianism at home is precipitating a kind of international authoritarianism, in which the American president can unleash the most powerful military the world has ever known on a whim."

My latest, in @nytimes.com: The Danger of an Unrestrained President to the World www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/o...

Glad to talk to Bill Hennigan for this piece, which is spot on. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/o...

Hell of a chart, this, from @financialtimes.com. Spot the JCPOA. on.ft.com/4kSuQYO

This is an important analysis that offers insights into the real human cost of the Trump administration's failure to take adequate steps to protect civilians during U.S. military operations in Yemen.

Letter from Iran's UN mission calling for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council (now scheduled for later today). Condemns Israel's attack as a violation of art 2(4), invokes its right of self-defense under art 51 of the UN Charter.

"[E]ven if the broadest possible (legally plausible) understanding of anticipatory self-defence was taken as a correct, Israel’s use of force against Iran would be illegal." www.ejiltalk.org/is-israels-u...

To nobody's surprise, the GAO found that arms transfers policies currently in place "do not fully address the risk that recipients may use transferred U.S. defense articles to commit human rights abuses.” Those policies should be reformed, not abandoned: www.justsecurity.org/113384/civil...

I'm so grateful for the extraordinary opportunity to join such a fantastic group of scholars, writers, and artists (including @jacobhacker.bsky.social!) this fall at the American Academy in Berlin (@americanacademy.bsky.social). www.americanacademy.de/announcing-t...

The firing of the Librarian of Congress is worse than many appreciate. The Librarian is appointed for a ten year term by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The position is nonpartisan and runs the critically important Congressional Research Service. www.npr.org/2025/05/09/n...

The newly announced tribunal to try the crime of aggression in Ukraine is a good step forward, if not what many of us hoped was possible. For the deep background, take a look at this @justsecurity.org series that started with this post in September 2022: www.justsecurity.org/83117/the-ca...

Curt Bradley, Jack Goldsmith, and I examined the new Ukraine-U.S. minerals deal and have concluded that it can be done by the president as a "sole executive agreement." But that's not the end of the story. Read more @justsecurity.org & @lawfaremedia.org. www.justsecurity.org/112981/us-uk...

@jacklgoldsmith.bsky.social, @oonahathaway.bsky.social, and @curtbradley.bsky.social explain why the Ukraine-U.S. agreement is likely a “sole executive agreement” and does not need to be submitted to Congress and analyze the relevance of recent reforms to the Case-Zablocki Act.

Q: Is the US - #Ukraine agreement on #CriticalMinerals one that requires congressional or Senate approval? A: No, write @curtbradley.bsky.social, @jacklgoldsmith.bsky.social, and @oonahathaway.bsky.social But follow-on agreements very well might. A x-post w/our friends at @lawfaremedia.org

The US-Ukraine minerals agreement will be submitted to Ukraine's parliament for ratification. Will our government do the same? If not, what's the legal authority under which it is being concluded?