On November 30, the United States reversed a 2008 policy that had ended the use of unreliable cluster munitions, despite the fact that these weapons have killed and maimed thousands of civilian men, women, and children globally.
CIVIC Senior Advisor for Programs, Nigeria Chitra Nagarajan discusses civilian protection, the Nigerian military, and CIVIC’s work in the region in an article published by the Humanitarian Practice Network: The Nigerian government has taken these steps in part in response to international pressure to improve the military’s record on human rights, including the decision of the…
CIVIC Director of US Program Dan Mahanty discusses the dangers of the proposed changes in counterterrorism policy in an op-ed with USA Today: The US military is going abroad in search of monsters to destroy, and Americans should be worried. New changes to US counterterrorism policy, branded as getting decisions out of the White House and…
On Monday, President Trump will chair a high-level panel on United Nations reform, kicking off the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting. Peacekeeping reform is badly needed and should be part of that discussion. Smart cuts to the U.N.’s budget could spur needed changes, but so far, the Trump administration’s focus has been primarily…
On August 21, President Trump took the stage at Fort Myer, Virginia to announce his long-awaited plan for the future of US engagement in Afghanistan. After spending the first few minutes of his 26 minute speech building up American unity and patriotism in an attempt to pivot from his disappointing and disheartening rhetoric post-Charlottesville, the…
The debate over the increase in civilian casualties caused by the U.S.-led coalition in the campaign against ISIS grows more contentious by the day, even as the tempo of operations has slowed following the fight for Mosul.
Fighting in densely populated areas poses a number of significant challenges to forces trying to adhere to the rules that govern warfare. Even assuming that international humanitarian law (IHL) is respected, the cumulative effect of urban warfare inevitably leads to human suffering. Nowhere is the tension between the military necessity to defeat an enemy and…
The spate of allegations of civilian deaths as a result of US operations in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen over the last few weeks has garnered significant interest from humanitarian groups around the world, as well as, finally, the United States Congress. Some media reports suggest that the March 17 bombing in Mosul, if true, is…
Civilians stay in war zones for all sorts of reasons: They may lack the resources to leave, or have no other place to go. They may be unwilling to leave vulnerable family members, may not want to leave their homes, or — most likely — they are not allowed to leave. There are 3,000 to 4,000 fighters in Raqqa, compared to 400,000 civilians.