Leonie Brassat

Research Fellow

brassat@mpil.de
Tel. +49 (6221) 482-342

Main Fields of Research:

Public International Law; Use of Force in International Law; Military Operations; Protection of Nationals Abroad

Academic Career:

Since March 2023 Research Fellow at the MPIL and Ph.D. in Public International Law at Humboldt University of Berlin

• Ph.D. project: Military Operations to Rescue and Evacuate Nationals from Abroad
• Research Fellow to Professor Anne Peters (since 2025)
• Associate Editor, Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Law (since 2025)
• Research Fellow, Max Planck Research Group Shades of Illegality in International Peace and Security Law (headed by Christian Marxsen) (until 2024)

January-April 2026: Cambridge University, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Research Stay/ Visiting Scholar

April-June 2025: Columbia Law School, Research Stay/ Visiting Scholar

October-December 2024: Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Institut de recherche en droit international et européen de la Sorbonne (IREDIES), Research Stay

July 2024: The Hague Academy of International Law, Directed Studies and Summer Courses in Public International Law

January-February 2023: Research Fellow at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

2020-2023: Student Assistant at the MPIL in the Max Planck Research Group SHADES (Shades of Illegality in International Peace and Security Law)

2019-2020: Student Assistant at the Chair for Public Law at the University of Heidelberg, Prof. Dr. Hanno Kube

2017-2022: University of Heidelberg, Law (First State Examination)

• Specialisation: Public International Law 
• Intern in the German Parliament and with Hengeler Mueller
• Participation in the Jessup International Law Moot Court 2020

2020/2021: Université de Lausanne, Switzerland (Semester abroad, Law)

2019: University of Auckland Law School, New Zealand (Semester abroad, Law)

Recent Publications

• Quashing protests abroad: The CSTO's intervention in Kazakhstan. In: Journal on the Use of Force in International Law 10/2, 271-298 (2023), (zusammen mit Florian Kriener). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
  

Blogposts

• The Lawfulness of military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen and the Red Sea. EJIL:Talk!, 19 March 2024. https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-lawfulness-...
  

Media

Military Evacuations: When Nationals are Stuck in Conflicts Abroad
(Radio interview with Deutschlandfunk Kultur, German public service broadcasting, 18 Aug. 2025, available at: https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/begrenzt-handlungsfaehig-wenn-deutsche-in-
krisengebieten-festsitzen-100.htm)

Military Strikes by Israel in Doha and Russian Drone Incursions in Poland: What Role for International Law?
(Radio interview with Radio Bremen 2, German public service broadcasting, Sept. 2025)

The Lawfulness of Israel's Military Strikes in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran
(Radio interview with Radio Bremen, German Public-Broadcasting Channel, Dec. 2024)

The Conflict Between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh
(Podcast-interview with Völkerrechtspodcast/ Völkerrechtsblog, 10.02.2024, https://voelkerrechtsblog.org/de/34-kriegsvoelkerrecht-bergkarabach/)

Presentations

Teaching

Participation in Conferences at Home and Abroad

Honours

Miscellaneous