Delighted to be awarded a British Academy Global Innovation Fellowship at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace! Starting in September, I’ll be based in Washington DC, researching security & defence, with a focus on space governance and the militarisation of outer space.
Posts by Dr Chris O'Meara
What limits does international law place on using force in self-defence in the cyber context? See my new ECIL Working Paper on how the customary international law requirements of necessity and proportionality apply to cyber operations: tinyurl.com/mrxhmszr
Missiles and Messages: Characterizing the Use of Force between Iran and Israel
opiniojuris.org/2025/07/25/m...
“what we are witnessing today is not the failure of international law but rather the failure of international politics”. Discuss
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/jun...
Spot on again from Marko. Note to the UK gov: ‘Third states have a legal obligation to refrain from providing aid and assistance to unlawful uses of force.’
www.ejiltalk.org/the-illegal-...
Is Israel’s Use of Force Against Iran Justified by Self-Defence? www.ejiltalk.org/is-israels-u... I broadly agree with Marko’s analysis and conclusion of unlawfulness. For more on ‘imminence’ and its relationship (conflation?) with necessity, my thoughts are here: doi.org/10.1080/2053...
❗️Come and join the Legal Division of the @ICRC!
✴️ Turn your vision for a better world, your belief in justice and humanity, in the protective power of the law, into #IHL advocacy.
careers.icrc.org/job/Geneva-%...
🚨 Thrilled to announce that my latest article, with the amazing Sarah Percy, has been published with International Affairs. Drawing on historical cases, we explore the role of timing in the legal regulation of battlefield weapons and practices.
academic.oup.com/ia/advance-a...
With #UN Working Group on Prevention of an Arms Race in #OuterSpace underway, @chrisomeara.bsky.social analyzes how jus ad bellum principles relate to use of space weapons in self-defense.
www.justsecurity.org/110248/secur...
As the UN General Assembly’s new OEWG on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space holds its first substantive session this week, what role can existing international law play? Here's my take: www.justsecurity.org/110248/secur...
ANZSIL registration is now open! @djag2.bsky.social and I are co-chairing the organising committee this year and we think it's going to be an awesome conference. The Conference theme is 'International Law: Silence, Forgetting and Remembrance'.
anzsil.org/event-6142429
Important.
Also, potentially interesting role of open source investigations
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/apr...
Is the imposition of tariffs a form of economic coercion and an unlawful intervention in the domestic affairs of other states? Check out my recent book, pp. 170-186: shorturl.at/BvMsw #trump #tariffs #nonintervention
How does the law limit self-defence in outer space? In my latest article for the Leiden Journal of International Law, I examine how international law on the use of force regulates the use of anti-satellite (#ASAT) weapons.
Link: doi.org/10.1017/S092...
War Above the Battlefield: Continued
Join us for part II of our online panel discussion exploring the resilience of Ukraine’s air defence & the challenges of Russia’s use of counterspace capabilities.
📅 4 April
⏲️ 15:30 – 16:30
📌 Zoom
Register 👇
www.kcl.ac.uk/events/war-a...
Former 🇺🇸 ambassador to Russia 👇🏽
AI is transforming the security landscape, influencing decision-making, risk assessment & strategic stability 🧭
In the #MiddleEast, these dynamics play a crucial role in discussions on establishing a Weapons of Mass Destruction-Free Zone 📜
Read more 📙 unidir.org/ZoneAI
Space law fan? If so, check out the discussion with Dr Rishi Gulati of my paper on the right of self-defence in outer space (forthcoming, Leiden Journal of International Law):
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
soundcloud.com/law-office-8...
⏰TODAY⏰
Join us today for an online panel discussion exploring the resilience of Ukraine’s air defence & the challenges of Russia’s use of counterspace capabilities.
📅 28 Feb
⏲️15:00 GMT
Register now 👇
kcl.ac.uk/events/war-a...
Interested in military operations in outer space and space law? Sign up here if so! www.eventbrite.com/e/uk-launch-...
Join Kubo Mačák @exeter.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social
UK launch Woomera Manual: International Law of Military Space Activities and Operations🚀
📅 Wednesday 12 March
📍 @rusi.bsky.social London
⏰16:00 doors 16:30–19:00 (panel & reception)
🎟 Register
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1254442604...
📖 Launched today – IHL in Focus: Annual Report.
Documenting and analysing compliance with IHL in some of the world’s most pressing conflicts, it sheds light on the well-documented crises dominating global headlines.
👉 Read more and download the report: www.geneva-academy.ch/news/detail/...
📢 We are pleased to invite you to the Annual Grotius Lecture 2025, where Judge Tomas Heidar will discuss the Advisory Opinion of #ITLOS on #ClimateChange: A Landmark Decision.
📅 27 March 2025 | 🕔 17:30-18:30 | 📍 BIICL, London
Find out more and register for free 👇
Most Ukrainian cities have not been destroyed.
Ukrainian law prohibits holding elections in wartime (unlike the US Constitution, which requires it).
isw.pub/UkraineFacts...
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for a plan to resettle the entire Palestinian population of Gaza to Egypt and Jordan.
Professor @eliavl.bsky.social writes that the idea undermines core principles of the international legal order and threatens U.S. interests.
Did Musk fire hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees to increase "efficiency"? I don't think so. There is a better explanation:
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Watch this YouTube video to learn about Tyche, the UK’s first defence satellite 👉 youtu.be/1hpTlC3DWYQ
Read more about Oberon 👉 www.gov.uk/government/n...