PolyGlobal Event: International Laws and Wars of Choice

On February 19, Dr. Saira Mohamed ’96, a law professor at UC Berkeley and a Poly alum, came to speak to students. Dr. Mohamed’s work focuses on the international law of war, human rights, and criminal justice. Specifically, she looks at commissions of wrongdoing in settings like armed conflict and mass atrocity crimes. In this event, Dr. Mohamed addressed the United States’ growing reliance on military force as a foreign policy instrument and how it conflicts with the foundational principles of international law.

After an introduction by Sophie A. ’26, Dr. Mohamed began by discussing the legal architecture established shortly after World War II. She explained how the United Nations (UN) Charter’s Article 2(4) was created with the concern of unprecedented destruction. Events such as the Holocaust, devastation of European invasions, and nuclear warfare made it clear to the UN that it needed to set limits to the use of warfare in order to save future generations from the scourge from war. With this framework, the use of military force became permitted only under two circumstances: either when the UN Security Council authorizes it, or when a state is acting in self-defense following an armed attack. Dr. Mohamed also clarified how this framework was not Pacifist but encouraged war to be a community instrument of last resort rather than a state crafting tool.

From there, Dr. Mohamed moved to discussing recent U.S. actions. She mentioned strikes that were carried out as recently as the morning of the event date, specifically boat strikes in the Pacific and Caribbean, and a Venezuela military operation that involved the abduction of a head of state. Importantly, she highlighted the Trump administration’s FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act, where a non-international armed conflict with narco-terrorists and drug traffickers was declared. She pointed out that this framing misapplies international law in a few ways. Drug trafficking does not necessarily constitute the protracted, intense hostility required to qualify as armed conflict, and the cartel activity too, does not rise to the level of an armed attack needed to trigger the right of self-defense. Dr. Mohamed views this legal framing as helping to immunize the state actors from taking accountability for any caused deaths and forming a moral narrative that splits the world into good guys and bad guys.

The discussion also pointed to the cultural aspects of armed conflict and the challenge of holding powerful states accountable when they bend the rules. Dr. Mohamed noted how although individual sanctions are nowhere near perfect, they serve an important role in creating difficulties for those seeking to carry out atrocities. As promising, potential avenues for accountability, Dr. Mohamed spoke about the emerging role of domestic criminal proceedings and universal jurisdiction cases, such as Germany’s prosecution of Syrian leaders. With discussing concerns over militarization in international law, Dr. Mohamed brings light to the human cost for the soldiers themselves, a theme that she explores in her upcoming book, What a Country Owes to Its Soldiers, which examines how international law regulates a state’s ways in treating its own service members.

A special, personal touch to the event was how Dr. Mohamed’s passion for international law traces back to her own time at Poly. As a sophomore, she wrote a research paper on the Nuremberg Trails. Mr. Caragher, her sophomore history teacher, noted that even then, Dr. Mohamed’s comments revealed “a great depth of thought,” which is clearly reflected decades later.

Understanding the legal frameworks that govern conflict and how such frameworks are supported or undermined lies at the heart of the Global Scholars program. Dr. Mohamed’s visit allowed for a timely look into the legal boundaries of war in our present world. We are deeply grateful to Sophie for her thoughtful introduction at the event, and to Dr. Mohamed for returning to Poly for the third time to share her remarkable expertise with our community.