Mary Ellen O'Connell
About/Bio
Mary Ellen O'Connell , JD, PhD is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and is Professor of International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. She is also Visiting Professor of Law (Fall 2022) at University of Chicago. O’Connell’s research is in the areas of international law on the use of force and international legal theory.
Recently Published
Speaking Truth to Trump on the International Rule of Law
February 7, 2025
Mary Ellen O'Connell
Oxford historian Margaret MacMillan asked in the pages of Foreign Affairs whether our troubled world order would be able to survive the disruptive Donald Trump. She wrote that “today’s order appears to be stronger and more resilient than its 1930s counterpart” but, clearly, “norms that were long considered inviolable have been flouted.” She means flouted…
The Lessons of 9/11 for October 7
October 28, 2023
Mary Ellen O'Connell
October 7 is being called Israel’s 9/11. The comparison is apt for the lessons that can be learned as to the legality of launching a ground offensive to respond to terrorism. The United States and the United Kingdom invaded Afghanistan in response to 9/11. Israel has announced it will undertake a full-scale…
Twenty Years of Drone Attacks
November 15, 2022
Mary Ellen O'Connell
On November 2, 2002, the United States conducted its first targeted killings using a drone. CIA agents based in Djibouti launched the drone’s two Hellfire missiles at a vehicle traveling in rural Yemen, killing six. Several weeks later the Los Angeles Times reported details, including the fact that while the U.S. Air Force controlled the…
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Popular articles by Mary Ellen O'Connell
The Killing of Soleimani and International Law
January 6, 2020
Mary Ellen O'Connell
On 3 January, missiles launched from a United States Reaper drone struck two vehicles leaving Baghdad’s international airport. At least seven people died in the attack, including the commander of Iran’s Quds force, General Qassem Soleimani. On 5 January, Iranian Major General Hossein Dehghan, reported to be the military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, gave an…
The Lessons of 9/11 for October 7
October 28, 2023
Mary Ellen O'Connell
October 7 is being called Israel’s 9/11. The comparison is apt for the lessons that can be learned as to the legality of launching a ground offensive to respond to terrorism. The United States and the United Kingdom invaded Afghanistan in response to 9/11. Israel has announced it will undertake a full-scale…
Russia-Ukraine: Resolving the World’s Most Dangerous Conflict
February 1, 2022
Mary Ellen O'Connell
Since late 2021, Russia has massed around 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, raising the specter of another use of force against its neighbor. The Russia-Ukraine crisis began in earnest in February 2014, when Russian troops spread out from their Black Sea naval base to take control of the Crimean Peninsula. Russia put forward a variety of…