Foundations of International Law
International law primarily governs this type of relationship between states.
What are relations between sovereign states?
This principle allows states to use force in response to an armed attack.
What is self-defense (Article 51 of the UN Charter)?
This concept refers to the use of fear and violence against civilians for political goals.
What is terrorism?
This 1978 law regulates U.S. government surveillance of foreign intelligence targets.
What is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)?
This U.S. detention facility located in Cuba became central to legal and human rights debates after 9/11 due to allegations of indefinite detention, limits on detainees' legal rights, and inhumane interrogation practices.
What is Guantanamo Bay detention camp?
This organization, created in 1945, plays a central role in maintaining international peace and security.
What is the United Nations (UN)?
This legal framework governs the conduct of war and protects civilians during conflict.
What is International Humanitarian Law (IHL)?
This type of warfare involves non-state actors like terrorist or insurgent groups.
What is irregular warfare?
Passed after 9/11, this 2001 expanded government surveillance powers, raising concerns about unchecked monitoring of citizens.
What is the USA PATRIOT Act?
This principle of law guarantees that a detained person must be brought before a court to determine whether their imprisonment is lawful.
What is habeas corpus?
This governing body has five permanent members whose veto power often limits enforcement of international law.
What is the United Nations (UN) Security Council?
This 2013 treaty regulates global arms transfers to reduce human rights abuses.
This 2001 U.S. authorization expanded military action against terrorism following 9/11.
What is the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)?
This NSA contractor leaked classified surveillance programs in 2013.
Who is Edward Snowden?
After 9/11, this designation was used to justify holding suspected terrorists outside of normal criminal court proceedings.
What are enemy combatants?
This type of law refers to rules governing relations between private individuals across national borders.
What is private international law?
These two branches of IHL distinguish between the protection of victims and the methods of warfare.
What are the Geneva Law and the Hague Law?
This was the primary justification used for the 2003 Iraq War, based on claims that these existed.
What are weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)?
This court oversees secret warrants for national security surveillance.
What is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)?
What right did the Supreme Court case Boumediene v. Bush (2008) rule that detainees have?
What is the right to challenge their detention with habeas corpus petitions?
International law lacks this, meaning that states often select which international laws they follow based on their self-interests.
What is an enforcement mechanism?
What principle does Article 2(4) of the UN Charter establish for states?
What is territorial integrity?
These two principles of international law distinguish when it is lawful to war and how war must be conducted.
What are jus ad bellum and jus in bello?
What is the balance between national security and civil liberties?
What Supreme Court case ruled that detainees at Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in U.S. federal courts.
What Rasul v. Bush (2004)?