Law

Humanitarian Inquisition

Does success in Libya prove that the "responsibility to protect" works, or has it opened a Pandora's box of shaky precedent?

BY DAVID BOSCO | SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

The South China Sea Is the Future of Conflict

The 21st century's defining battleground is going to be on water.

BY ROBERT D. KAPLAN | SEPT/OCT 2011

This Week at War: Outsourcing the Drug War

Can U.S. private contractors turn the tide in Mexico's violent drug war?

BY ROBERT HADDICK | AUGUST 12, 2011

The Kids Aren't Alright

What's really behind Britain's wave of youth violence?

BY PORTIA WALKER | AUGUST 10, 2011

The Palestinians' Imaginary State

A majority of the world's countries are gearing up to recognize a Palestinian state in September. But does Palestine really qualify?

BY STEVEN J. ROSEN | AUGUST 3, 2011

Guilty Until Proven Guilty

In the cage of justice, sometimes a courtroom's verdict is long foretold.

BY PHILIP WALKER | AUGUST 3, 2011

The Trial of the Century

Look beyond the cage. The problems facing Hosni Mubarak’s trial lie elsewhere.

BY NATHAN J. BROWN | AUGUST 3, 2011

Betting Against the (U.S.) House

If you can't stop Congress from ruining America's credit, can you at least make money off of it?

BY CHARLES HOMANS | JULY 29, 2011

Fail, Britannia

How did the country that taught the world good governance become so corrupt?

BY CHANDRASHEKHAR KRISHNAN | JULY 28, 2011

The Super-Lux Super Max

From flat-screen TVs to jogging trails, here's where Norway's accused mass murderer could end up.

IMAGES BY ALEX MASI | JULY 25, 2011

Famine Is a Crime

Civilization has defeated mass starvation. So why are so many Somalis dying of hunger?

BY CHARLES KENNY | JULY 25, 2011

Cambodia's Kangaroo Court

Why isn't the U.N. tribunal to prosecute genocidal Khmer Rouge war criminals going after more bad guys?

BY MIKE ECKEL | JULY 20, 2011

First, They Came for the Lawyers

China's newest campaign of repression.

BY JEROME A. COHEN | JULY 12, 2011

Knesset of Fools

A harsh new anti-boycott bill will help achieve the exact opposite of what its advocates intended: the delegitimization of the Jewish state.

BY HUSSEIN IBISH | JULY 12, 2011

Poland's 'Vietnam Syndrome' in Afghanistan

A high-profile war crimes trial points out the dangerous divide between America and its allies on the ground in Afghanistan.

BY ALEKSANDRA KULCZUGA | JULY 7, 2011

For the Love of Money

From whiskey to nuclear secrets, North Korea plays a remarkably entrepreneurial role in international affairs for a Communist regime.

BY SIMON HENDERSON | JULY 7, 2011

Paperwork Tigers

The developing world can do fine without more regulation, thank you very much. In fact, it can do better.

BY CHARLES KENNY | JULY 1, 2011

Hanging Chads in Tirana

Are there lessons from Bush v. Gore for Albania?

BY JAMES A. BAKER III | JUNE 30, 2011

Justice League

The case for calling off the Tomahawks and bringing Muammar al-Qaddafi to The Hague.

BY DAVID SCHEFFER | JUNE 29, 2011

Let's Make a Deal

The United States and the Taliban should be able to work out a compromise on Afghanistan. But will the Afghans be able to live with it?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JUNE 24, 2011

Legalizing Drugs Won't Stop Mexico's Brutal Cartels

Like all good multinational businesses, they've diversified.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | JUNE 22, 2011

Road Rage in Russia

Moscow's elite has decided it doesn't need to follow the traffic laws. Will there be a pedestrian revolution?

BY JULIA IOFFE | JUNE 14, 2011

Don't Fear the Reaper

Four misconceptions about how we think about drones.

BY CHARLI CARPENTER, LINA SHAIKHOUNI | JUNE 7, 2011

Tolerating Dissent

Countries that fail to safeguard free speech and press freedom are likely to be visited first by dictatorship, and then by threats to the governing regime.

BY LEE C. BOLLINGER | JUNE 1, 2011

The Rise of the Red Market

How the best intentions of the medical community accidentally created an international organ-trafficking underground.

BY SCOTT CARNEY | MAY 30, 2011

Victor's Justice

As Egypt prepares to prosecute Hosni Mubarak, here's a look at five other countries that have -- with mixed success -- put former leaders on trial for their crimes.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MAY 25, 2011

Tortured Logic

The United States didn't need to waterboard anyone to get Osama bin Laden.

BY MATTHEW ALEXANDER | MAY 4, 2011

Show Me Everything But the Money

Why we should spend less time worrying about what people in developing countries think about government corruption, and more time looking at everything else.

BY CHARLES KENNY | MAY 2, 2011

The Prisoners' Dilemma

Does WikiLeaks' newest document dump tell us anything we don't know about Guantánamo, or is it just another reminder that the United States' least worst place is now its most intractable legal problem? FP asked four experts on military law and interrogation to weigh in on the Gitmo papers.

APRIL 25, 2011

Russia's Crime of the Century

How crooked officials pulled off a massive scam, spent millions on Dubai real estate, and killed my partner when he tried to expose them.

BY JAMISON FIRESTONE | APRIL 20, 2011