Good faith, a form of honesty, is the lifeblood that flows through contracts, treaties and negotiations, leading to bargains, ceasefires, and the end of wars. Good faith presupposes sincerity of purpose. When parties come to the table to resolve a conflict, they assume that each side genuinely seeks a resolution. The demands may be excessive, [...]
The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in Hunter v. United States, a case concerning when people can be forced to yield their rights through a plea “agreement.” It’s a case that, for at least one of the Court’s justices and a longtime critic of plea bargaining, is likely to resonate especially strongly: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, [...]
The modern international order rests on a foundational promise: states must resolve disputes peacefully, and force may be used only as a last resort and only within the bounds of law. The US helped build this system after World War II, embedding these principles in the UN Charter and in its own Constitution. Yet the [...]
Editor’s Note: This op-ed was submitted to JURIST prior to the joint US-Israeli military strikes on Iran that began on February 28, 2026. The author is based in Tehran. JURIST has confirmed that he is safe. Due to ongoing internet disruptions and security conditions on the ground, he is currently unable to file. He will [...]
A recent investigation by RFE/RL’s Schemes unit revealed that a senior Russian commander shared a meme among fellow officers that read, “It’s not a war crime if it was fun.” The sentiment is shocking, but it is not surprising—particularly given the context in which it was shared: alongside messages documenting the mutilation of prisoners, the [...]
In December 2025, I (born in 2002) logged in from Iran to speak to students gathered in “Arts Tower LT5” at the University of Sheffield. The screen flickered; their winter coats rustled in a distant auditorium I could not see. I told them something that felt obvious and astonishing at once: look how close we [...]
Paramilitary forces in Sudan unleashed “a wave of intense violence…shocking in its scale and brutality” during their final offensive to seize the city of El Fasher last October, according to the UN human rights office. That clinical phrasing barely conveys what actually happened: a city starved, surrounded, and then assaulted in a way that left [...]
Several cities across the United States have begun to break new ground in recent years by legally recognizing polyamorous relationships. Somerville, Massachusetts, led the way in 2020, becoming the first city to pass a domestic partnership ordinance that includes relationships among more than two adults, granting them many of the same rights and privileges as [...]
I feel lost, as if I have misplaced myself somewhere between silence and clamor. The world withdrew the moment the internet was cut off, not merely into disconnection but into a condition of being unwitnessed. What disappeared was not information, but circulation, visibility, and political presence. In that imposed solitude, an old question returned with [...]
The war in Ukraine has entered a phase defined not by movement but by immovable political realities. Russia will not relinquish the Donbas or Crimea, territories it now treats as integral to its domestic narrative and strategic posture. Ukraine cannot accept any settlement that legitimizes territorial seizure by force without violating its constitution, undermining its [...]
