War And Data

No War Is Illegal

Lorenzo Warby | Lorenzo From Oz | 5th March 2026

Is the attack on Iran, or any war, illegal? Laws come with remedies — consequences for breaking the law. (Public) international law only makes declarative statements, which are not enough to make it law. A war may be unconstitutional, immoral or a strategic failure, but it cannot be illegal. “A much more useful question is: does the war disrupt an existing order or does it seek to enforce it?” (2,100 words)

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Ten Thoughts On Government Data

Santi Ruiz | Statecraft | 5th March 2026

…And its idiosyncrasies. Government data systems were built for administration, not analysis. Datasets often have a small number of civil servants using them; inaccuracies can go unnoticed for a long time. Lots of data are based on representative samples, which entails assumptions that can easily invalidate findings if one forgets to include them. “There’s rarely a single person who can explain the whole thing” (2,000 words)