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The Dismantling of UN Peace Operations under the Trump Administration

February 10, 2026

Those who had hoped for a more auspicious start to the new year for multilateralism were quickly disillusioned by recent developments concerning Venezuela, Greenland and beyond. Simultaneously, the United States (US) President contended that he ‘doesn’t need international law’ but is guided instead by his ‘own morality’. All of this might, at times, appear as a post-postmodern farce, with insecure anti-truth bullies as its central figures, were it not for the severe consequences that their shortsighted and reductionist worldview entails for the world we inhabit. The destructive trajectory of the Trump administration – despite the US President’s repeated reiterations of his alleged ‘support for peace’ (see e.g. here and here) – has also been directed at United Nations (UN) peace operations, which constitute a cornerstone of multilateralism and a central expression of the global commitment to peace. For instance, the US President instructed the withdrawal from 66 ‘international organizations’ and ‘conventions’, including the Peacebuilding Commission and…

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Individual Justice Cannot Be Streamlined: Some Reflections on Special Procedures Reform

February 4, 2026

In a recent article published on Universal Rights Group, Professor Alice Edwards, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, has offered a thoughtful and provocative proposal to reform the Special Procedures system. Observing that the system faces genuine challenges — inadequate funding, growing caseloads, inconsistent State cooperation, and what she describes as "a digital wasteland of lost hope…

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Beyond Residual Functions: The IRMCT, the ‘Stateless Eight’, and the Human Rights Obligations of Security Council Subsidiaries

January 27, 2026

On 10 December 2025, the Security Council once again debated the future of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT). As in previous sessions, delegations diverged sharply in their assessments of the tribunal: France, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Korea underscored the importance of retaining international authority over things like sentence enforcement and early…

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Closing the Last Gap in International Criminal Law: Why a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity Matters

January 16, 2026

This is a post in our Joint Symposium on "Negotiating a Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity" run in partnership with Just Security.  The international community stands at a pivotal moment in the evolution of international criminal law. While genocide and war crimes have long been codified in dedicated international treaties, crimes against humanity — arguably among…

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A (very) short history of Crimes Against Humanity

January 16, 2026

This is a post in our Joint Symposium on "Negotiating a Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity" run in partnership with Just Security.  Understanding the history of a legal concept can help illuminate its normative content, and explain what it stands for, why it is defined in a particular way, and how it relates to…

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