Janina is the Dame Louise Richardson Chair in Global Security at the Blavatnik School of Government. She is a Fellow at Trinity College and Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict (ELAC). Her research concerns the role of law and morality in international relations, specifically in war. She focuses on three strands of work.
First, Janina writes about the legal requirements for the conduct of military operations, speaking to debates on International Law on the use of force and International Humanitarian Law.
Second, she develops theories about how international law can be an instrument of morality in war, albeit an imperfect one. This work contributes to debates in just war theory and jurisprudence.
Third, Janina explains how moral and legal norms affect the reality of war. She investigates the capacity of law to constrain military decision-making, how norms shape public opinion and the attitudes of conflict-affected populations i.e. in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Iraq.
In 2021, Janina won a Philip Leverhulme Prize for researchers "whose work has had international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising." She is using the prize to conduct research on decision-making in war. From 2024-2026, Janina is working on a three-year project entitled "Cumulative Civilian Harm: Addressing the Hidden Human Cost of the Law's Blind Spot", which is funded by a joint grant from the ESRC and the National Science Foundation.
In 2025-2026 she is also co-leading an expert process co-organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) regarding the concept of military objective under IHL.
Janina is frequently asked to speak in the media on laws and ethics of war. Please see her Media page for details.
Latest articles:
Greeted as Liberators? How Americans Think About U.S. Military Interventions, Foreign Affairs
A Matter of Principle: The Role of Consent in U.S. Support for Military Intervention, International Security (with Emily Meyers & Livia Schubiger)
The Illegality of the US Attack Against Venezuela is Beyond Debate: How the World reacts is Critical, University of Oxford Expert Comment
Creeds and Contestation: How U.S. Nuclear and Legal Doctrines Influence Each Other, Security Studies (with Scott Sagan)
Do Ukrainians Still Prefer Self-Defense at Any Cost? Journal of Peace Research (with Marnie Howlett and Carl Müller-Crepon)
Yet Again: The U.K. Government Mischaracterizes Its Obligation to Prevent Genocide in Gaza, Just Security (with Tom Dannenbaum)
The Role of Law in Global Nuclear Politics: Opacity, Deflection, and Potential, Security Studies, 2025 (with Scott Sagan)
Ukraine will not Surrender to Russia, Foreign Affairs (with Marnie Howlett and Carl Müller-Crepon)
International Law in Gaza: Belligerent Intent and Provisional Measures, American Journal of International Law (with Tom Dannenbaum)
At Any Cost: How Ukrainians Think about Self-defense Against Russia, American Journal of Political Science (with Marnie Howlett and Carl Müller-Crepon)
Threats to State Survival as Emergencies in International Law, International Theory
Inconstant Care: Public Attitudes Toward Force Protection and Civilian Casualties in the US, UK, and Israel, Journal of Conflict Resolution (with S. Sagan and B. Valentino)
Kettles of Hawks: Public Opinion on the Nuclear Taboo and Noncombatant Immunity in the US, UK, France, and Israel, Security Studies, (with S. Sagan and B. Valentino)
Edited Symposium on War By Agreement: A Contractarian Ethics of War, Law and Philosophy (with C. Fabre)
Attitudes Toward the Use of Force: Instrumental Imperatives, Moral Principles and International Law, American Journal of Political Science (with L. Schubiger)
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