International Affairs

📢 NEW ISSUE ALERT! The Sept issue features a special section on Jus ad vim at 20: on the continued relevance of force-short-of-war with 11 articles on the ethics of force-short-of-war. It also includes 6 articles, a policy paper and 14 book reviews. academic.oup.com/ia/issue/102/5

‘The change away from project funding to a more efficient contract funding model is urgent and necessary,’ writes Patrick Cunningham in his latest IA policy paper. Read his policy recommendations for direct funding of indigenous organizations here: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag124

How is Germany managing the tension between European expectations and its capacities and willingness to take responsibility for leadership in the region? Read about Germany’s reluctance to lead Europe in @bblumenau.bsky.social’s #openaccess article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag061

What is ‘digital non-alignment’ and how has it emerged as a leading framework for technology policy across Europe and Asia? Read about India’s approach to navigating the technological competition between the US and China in Scott Malcomson’s #openaccess article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag084

In their latest article, @drlauraesq.bsky.social and @kariahartung.bsky.social focus on the gendered erasures that ‘limited force’ can permit in our time of limitless war, through a feminist evaluation. Read their critique of jus ad vim #openaccess here: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag118

A combined international law and just war theory framework to distinguish force, limited force and 'soft war' acts in space is needed to determine proportionate responses, writes Louisa Handel-Mazzetti and Lonneke Peperkamp. Read their article now: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag127

‘Transferring sophisticated autonomous and AI-enabled weapon systems represents a maximal means for exerting force without implicating one's own military or state,’ writes @woodnathang.bsky.social. Read his analysis of the Russo-Ukrainian war: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag126

How does the EU’s shifting foreign policy doctrine affect African security? @uelistaeger.bsky.social & @tonihaastrup.bsky.social’s #openaccess article shows how the European Peace Facility constrains African Union autonomy despite claims of partnership: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag119

Drawing on ten cases, Aldo Zammit Borda shows how People’s Tribunals have constructed their legitimacy not in isolation, but in reference to formal justice mechanisms. Learn more in our latest Editors’ Choice article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag089

Is ‘tit-for-tat’ proxy warfare justifiable? Focusing on Russia's use of the Wagner Group as a proxy in Africa and its ‘grey zone’ operations in Ukraine, @jamespattison.bsky.social finds that measures of vis are often abused. Read his #openaccess article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag122

In his guest edited special section, @christianbraun612.bsky.social and Jonathan David Thompson analyse the ethics of proxy warfare through the lens of jus ad vim. Read their examination of the March 23 Movement: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag123

Have you checked our September issue yet? What are you waiting for! 📜 The latest issue features a special section on jus ad vim, with different perspectives on the ethics of force-short-of-war. It also includes 6 research articles, a policy paper and 14 book reviews.

How does the US–China rivalry impact Australia’s strategic alignment with the US? Find out in Zanxu Pu’s latest article in our September issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag121

Jus ad vim (limited force) does not prevent escalation, but rather shifts the burden to political decision-making, asserts Agata Kleczkowska in her #openaccess article. Read more in our latest special section: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag052

France's withdrawal from the Sahel during 2022–2024 marked a transitional securitization era, what logics justified the use of armed drones in the region? Read Daniel R Brunstetter’s #openaccess article in his guest-edited special section: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag060

Gender expertise is marginalized as a ‘political’ or ‘subjective’ form of knowledge despite recognition of the gendered impacts of scientific problems, write Mariel Verroya, @saraedavies.bsky.social & @drjesskirk.bsky.social. Read their #openaccess article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag058

In his latest article, James M. Page questions the lawfulness of jus ad vim as it falls outside the UN’s self-defence authorization. Read about how limited force can blur the line between war and peace in our latest special section: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag117

When military force or a ‘warrior’ mindset is applied to peace enforcement, counterterrorism, stabilization or supporting civil authorities, it can lead to ethical confusion and misuse of lethal force. Read Shannon Brandt Ford’s #openaccess article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag112

‘If jus ad vim is to provide to provide practical guidance, it must account for how such force can be terminated responsibly and how political actors can facilitate peace’ write @christianbraun612.bsky.social, Daniel Brunstetter & Esther Reed. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag125

In case you haven't heard, I'm stepping into the role of Associate Editor for @iajournal.bsky.social. 🎉 If you'd like to know more about our journal or what's happening with the ISA Women's Caucus, please join us this Friday at 11AM Pacific. TY, ISA-West! (Via Zoom, DM for the link.)

In his latest article, Kaushik Roy connects ancient Indian grand strategy with jus ad vim, using Kautilya's concept of tusnimyuddha (silent war) to explain diplomacy and de-escalation in India's counterterrorism, cyber-deterrence and post-conflict policy. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag113

Is there a feminist theory of the ethics of using jus ad vim (limited force)? According to @drlauraesq.bsky.social and @kariahartung.bsky.social, 'there is not, and cannot be, a feminist jus ad vim.' Read their #openaccess article in our latest special section: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag118

How should militaries respond to hostile acts in space without escalating to war? Louisa Handel-Mazzetti and Lonneke Peperkamp argue that counter-space operations require a combined international law and just war theory framework in their latest article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag127

Can the transfer of weapons be viewed as a form of force-short-of-war? @woodnathang.bsky.social argues that transfers of autonomous weapons represent maximal means for exerting force while mitigating concerns of escalation. Read here: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag126

In his #openaccess article, @jamespattison.bsky.social argues that responses to unjust proxy war should consider the two main reasons why sponsors use proxies: maintain plausible deniability and reduce costs. Read his analysis of Russia’s use of the Wagner Group: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag122

What narratives are used when justifying military force? In his guest-edited special section, Daniel R. Brunstetter looks at the use of armed drones in west Africa by France and the Alliance of Sahel States. Read his #openaccess article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag060

Investigating Rwanda's March 23 Movement, @christianbraun612.bsky.social and Jonathan David Thompson use a jus ad vim lens to examine how force-short-of-war complicates authority, restraint and escalation. 📖 https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag123

👩‍⚕️ Why is gender expertise in health still treated as peripheral? Read more about when gender expertise gains legitimacy in emergency decisions in Mariel Verroya, @saraedavies.bsky.social and @drjesskirk.bsky.social’s #openaccess article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag058

Since 2012, Australia’s China policy has been shaped by US–China rivalry and Australia–US strategic alignment finds Zanxu Pu. Learn more about developments in Australia’s foreign policy here: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag121

In his latest #openaccess article, @eamonaloyo.bsky.social looks at the US’ foreign policy towards Syria in 2018 to develop jus ad vim as a decision-making framework. Learn more about how ethical principles can be better applied to reduce error: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag053

Regional security mechanisms have enabled African states to go beyond bilateral and militarized security in developing processes like the African Peace Facility. Read more in @uelistaeger.bsky.social and @tonihaastrup.bsky.social’s #openaccess article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag119

James M. Page argues that jus ad vim undermines legal thresholds in the UN Charter. Read more about how it destabilizes the difference between war and peace in our latest special section 👇 https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag117

With Russia intensifying its hybrid campaign against Europe and Friedrich Merz facing mounting domestic pressures, particularly from the pro-Russian AfD, the question of what role Germany will play in shaping Europe's future remains a crucial one.

Can jus ad vim (limited force) be distinguished in international law from prohibited uses of force or armed attacks in the UN Charter? Read Agata Kleczkowska’s #openaccess article to learn more about the potential legal and strategic consequences of jus ad vim: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag052

What can Australia’s intervention in the Solomon Islands teach us about applying a ‘warrior mindset’ in military activity during a conflict-short-of-war? Read Shannon Brandt Ford's #openaccess article in our special section to learn more: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag112

What explains the gap between the expectations of Germany’s neighbours for it to take greater leadership for Europe and its security, and the reluctance of German politicians to comply? Read @bblumenau.bsky.social’s #openaccess article to learn more: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag061

Where does India stand on data sovereignty & digital industrial policy while resisting technology alliance with either the US or China? asks Scott L. Malcomson. Read about ‘digital non-alignment’ in his #openaccess article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag084

How do People’s Tribunals strategically construct their legitimacy by positioning themselves in relation to formal courts and tribunals? asks Aldo Zammit Borda. Learn more in our Editors’ Choice article: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag089

In his latest policy paper, Patrick Cunningham writes about how indigenous organizations like the Kayapó in Brazil could benefit from long-term contracts and direct funding. Read his recommendations: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag124

From the ethics of proxy warfare to foreign policy decision making, our latest special section guest edited by @christianbraun612.bsky.social, Daniel Brunstetter & Esther Reed interrogates force-short-of-war from various theoretical and geographical perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag125

My latest article is now out (open access) in @iajournal.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1093/ia/i... Many thanks to @christianbraun612.bsky.social, Esther G. Reed, and Daniel R Brunstetter for editing the special section.

For over a century the "German Problem" was about how to contain a country too large for Europe, too small for the world. My new article in @iajournal.bsky.social argues that since 1990 the logic has inverted. The problem today is not too much Germany. It is not enough. doi.org/10.1093/ia/i...

Our latest Editors’ Choice article is a policy paper on how NATO should adapt to full spectrum drone warfare. Read it #openaccess in our July issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag092

Logics of securitization, punishment and surveillance too often reduce forms of care and solidarity by labelling them suspect or deviant, argues Aube Tollu. Read their latest article on gender and community within jihadist group members: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag051

In their latest article, @carolinapantoliano.bsky.social and @rhyscrilley.bsky.social offer insights to advance nuclear disarmament in the third nuclear age context. Read more in our July issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag039

China’s increasing emphasis on special envoys represents a broader transformation of Chinese foreign policy, suggest Hao Wu and Benjamin Barton. Read more in our July issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag041

‘Ukraine was repeatedly confronted with external pressures that placed compliance, alignment or containment above balance’, writes Anne Ingemann Johansen. Read her analysis of Ukraine’s strategies to be a buffer state:

In his latest article, @wdjames.bsky.social finds that 4 of the US’s core allies have been doubling down on the US-led order even if others are drifting towards rival powers. Read more about Australia, Japan, Poland and the UK’s strategies: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag059

What are the limits of language and framing when it comes to gender issues in US public opinion and policy preferences? Read more in @joshschwartz.bsky.social and @mmgarrity.bsky.social’s #openaccess article: