In the last months of 2020, Israel normalized its ties with four Arab countries. In the case of Morocco, the US issued a proclamation, recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, making it the first country in the world to do so. What consequences such recognition will have on what is essentially a conflict in limbo is unclear.

While there is no doubt that both national and international anti-piracy laws will lead to better conditions for the fight against piracy, it is evidently important to be aware of the opportunities that national laws have where international law cannot deliver.

Not only is military intervention justifiable in certain circumstances, but the simple existence of the possibility of such action occurring could also make beneficial contributions towards curtailing the occurrences of GBV and discrimination.

To adapt our security response to hybrid wars and to ensure the safety of our citizens, it appears necessary for many strategists to unify civil and military counterinsurgency, to give a greater role to civilians in defense and security fields, to work in close collaboration with different sectors and combining capabilities, as well as to choose technologically driven solutions.

In the Western Balkans, the Biden administration has all the tools necessary to achieve successful political and economic transformation. The newly-elected POTUS has a deep understanding of the region, and is all too aware that the carrot and the stick are more effective when there is agreement and mutual support between the European Union and the United States.

In order to ensure detained belligerents in conflicts are treated in accordance with principles of International Humanitarian Law, legal accountability mechanisms need to be strengthened to hold States to humane standards.

The legal debate around the position of civilians in the combatant landscape can both have consequences for the rights of the individuals in question, and also for the legitimacy of the intervention by Western forces in the Sahel.

In 2014, the Marshall Islands (RMI) attempted, unsuccessfully, to use International Law to compel States to disarm their nuclear capacities. With the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons set to enter into force in January 2021, the RMI’s earlier attempt to have States’ legal obligations clarified is relevant to the discussion on the legal status of nuclear disarmament in International Law.

Private military and security companies have a strong technical and security culture. But they lack human and humanitarian indicators to rely on. This shortfall contributes to widening the gap between security and human rights considerations, and to increasing possible human rights violations.

The 1994 Rwandan genocide is the most famous example of the power of language. This linguistic parallel between Cameroon and Rwanda is worrying, considering their similar history of discrimination patterns, human rights abuses and political exclusion of minority groups.