Explainer
Ceasefire vs Armistice vs Peace Agreement: What Is the Difference?
All three can reduce or end fighting, but they usually operate at different levels. The text of the agreement matters more than the label.
Evergreen context
Explainers
Plain-language background to help readers understand concepts, institutions, terms and methods used in conflict reporting.
Explainer
What Is a ‘Frozen Conflict’?
A frozen conflict is a political description for unresolved conflict with reduced or intermittent fighting. It does not mean the dispute is settled or…
Explainer
What Is a Proxy War?
A proxy war involves outside powers supporting local or regional belligerents rather than fighting only through their own forces. The label is useful—but can…
Explainer
Civil War vs Insurgency vs Rebellion: What Do the Terms Mean?
These political and military labels overlap, but they are not interchangeable legal categories. Here is how to read them in conflict reporting.
Explainer
What Is Universal Jurisdiction?
Universal jurisdiction allows national courts, under certain legal frameworks, to prosecute some grave international crimes even without the usual territorial or nationality link.
Explainer
What Is Command Responsibility?
Command responsibility can make military commanders and other superiors criminally liable for crimes by subordinates when specific legal conditions are met.
Explainer
What Is an Indiscriminate Attack?
International humanitarian law prohibits attacks that are not directed at a specific military objective or whose effects cannot be limited as the law requires.
Explainer
What Does Proportionality Mean in the Laws of War?
Proportionality does not mean matching force with equal force. It is a rule about expected incidental civilian harm in attacks on military objectives.
Explainer
What Is a Military Objective? Civilian Objects and ‘Dual-Use’ Infrastructure
How the laws of war distinguish civilian objects from military objectives—and why “dual-use” is a description, not an automatic legal category.
Explainer
Sieges, Blockades and Starvation: What International Law Says
Sieges and blockades are not governed by a single simple rule. The key questions include starvation, civilian protection, humanitarian relief and the conduct of…