Brian Finucane

Member of the Board of Editors

Brian Finucane (@BCFinucane) is senior adviser with the U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group where he focuses on developing policies and institutional checks to decrease U.S. reliance on military tools in foreign affairs, including through legislative reforms of war powers and counterterrorism authorities.

Prior to joining Crisis Group in 2021, he served for over a decade as an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State. In that capacity, he advised the U.S. government on legal and policy issues relating to counterterrorism, the use of military force, and partnered military operations.

He is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law.

Finucane holds a B.A. in anthropology from Cornell University, a DPhil from Oxford University, and a J.D. from Yale University. Finucane is also on LinkedIn.

Articles by this author:

Israel, the United States, and the Fourth Geneva Convention

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Feb 23rd, 2024

Not Reassuring: NSM-20 and the Limits of Law-of-War Assurances in the Transfer of U.S. Arms

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Feb 13th, 2024

Regional Conflict in the Middle East and the Limitations of the War Powers Resolution

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Jan 8th, 2024

Key Takeaways from September 28 House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on AUMF Reform

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Oct 4th, 2023

Questions for Congress to Ask the Biden Administration at the AUMF Hearing

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Sep 25th, 2023

Analyzing Previously Undisclosed Use of Force Reports: Challenges of Congressional Oversight of the War on Terror

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Sep 18th, 2023

Renewed Tensions in the Persian Gulf: Further War Powers Lessons from the Tanker War

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Aug 16th, 2023

The House Tackles Zombie War Authorizations: Possibilities and Perils

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Aug 14th, 2023

Opaque Transparency on the Use of Force: Observations on the 2022 “1264” Report

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Mar 14th, 2023

Permanently Winding Down the War on Terror Requires Greater Transparency

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Jan 30th, 2023

Missed Opportunities and Minor Progress: The FY 2023 National Defense Bill and War Powers

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Dec 15th, 2022

Assessing Biden’s New Policy Framework for Counterterrorism Direct Action

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Oct 11th, 2022

Tit-for-Tat Hostilities In Syria: War Powers and International Law Implications

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Sep 8th, 2022

The Prohibition on Indiscriminate Attacks: The US Position vs. the DoD Law of War Manual

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May 3rd, 2022

Still at War: The United States in the Sahel

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Apr 7th, 2022

Ukraine and War Powers: A Legal Explainer

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Mar 3rd, 2022

Questions for Congress to Ask the Biden Administration at the AUMF Hearing

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Feb 28th, 2022

Time for the Biden Administration to Disavow the Dangerous Soleimani Legal Opinions

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Jan 3rd, 2022

Failure to Warn: War Powers Reporting and the “War on Terror” in Africa

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Oct 4th, 2021

Crossing Back Over: Time to Reform Legal Culture and Legal Practice of the “War on Terror”

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Sep 10th, 2021

Questions for Senators to Ask the Biden Administration at AUMF Hearing

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Jul 31st, 2021

War Powers Guard Rails Can Keep the U.S. From Sliding into a New Middle East War

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Jul 2nd, 2021

Putting AUMF Repeal Into Context

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Jun 24th, 2021

A Commander’s Duty to Punish War Crimes: Past U.S. Recognition

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Dec 4th, 2020