Democracy & Rule of Law

Just Security’s expert authors provide analysis on threats and challenges to democracy and the rule of law in the United States and globally. Coverage includes analysis of the separation of powers, good governance, democratic backsliding, authoritarianism, judicial independence, freedom of the press and association, and accountability for rule of law violations.

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A refugee man and child transport water containers by cattle-drawn cart in Awaradi Refugee camp in eastern Niger, on December 11, 2019. (Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images)

Bringing Climate and Terrorism Together at the UN Security Council – Proceed with Caution

The open debate creates risks that counterterrorism will come to dominate the climate security and environmental peacebuilding fields.

Dec. 6, 2021 Jordan Street

Voting rights activists hold signs at protest

As It Convenes a Global Democracy Summit, the United States Must Commit To Defending Democracy at Home

Heading into the Summit for Democracy, the United States has yet to pass comprehensive voting rights legislation at home.

Dec. 3, 2021 Daniel Weiner and Lawrence Norden

What Should Be the Aim of President Biden’s Democracy Summit?

It should create international organizations to build democracy and the rule of law, with the heft of global economic institutions.

Nov. 24, 2021 Anders Åslund

Tragic Mistakes: Breaking the Military Culture of Impunity

How framing civilian harm in U.S. military operations -- as a “tragic mistake” -- hides the systemic failure that requires institutional reform.

Nov. 23, 2021 Brianna Rosen

Might the Turkish Electorate Be Ready to Say Goodbye to Erdoğan After Two Decades in Power?

Polls show a steady decline. But while the opposition stands a chance, it faces challenges, including the risk of election manipulation.

Nov. 22, 2021 Kemal Kirişci and Berk Esen

Big-Tobacco-Type Lawsuits from State AGs: A Roadmap for Redressing Facebook’s Harms

Facebook has followed the Big Tobacco model, maximizing profit at expense of the public. It's time for AGs to dust off this playbook too.

Nov. 18, 2021 Scott Harshbarger and Dennis Aftergut

This picture shows detainees inside the soundproof glass dock of the courtroom during the trial of 700 defendants, including Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, in the capital Cairo, on Sept. 8, 2018. Shawkan, who earlier that year received UNESCO's World Freedom Prize, was sentenced to five years in prison. He had been arrested in 2013 while covering a demonstration. Including time served, he was finally freed in March 2019, but required to be under police supervision for five more years.

When US Security and Democracy Interests Clash

How to break six common and unhelpful patterns in US engagement with security partners that abuse rights or democratic standards.

Nov. 18, 2021 Thomas Carothers and Benjamin Press

Taiwanese military vehicles take part in a national day parade in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei on October 10, 2021.

Unilateral Use of Force in the “National Interest”: Taiwan Doesn’t Meet the Test

Can the President use force to protect Taiwan in the "national interest" without congressional authorization?

Nov. 12, 2021 Katherine Yon Ebright

Daniel Escobar meets with Milorad Dodik and others around a table with microphones, in Sarajevo, on November 8, 2021. The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina stands against a wall behind the conference table.

US Focus on `Open Balkan’ Economic Project Risks Open Season Instead

In the current security crisis and regional context, such a response may amount to meeting a threat to peace with appeasement and bribery.

Nov. 11, 2021 Kurt Bassuener

Bill Browder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and two others speak while sitting at a press conference in London on November 20, 2018. People sit facing them with recording equipment.

Abuse of Interpol for Transnational Repression: Assessing the FY22 NDAA’s Provisions for Prevention

The act needs work, but could set a new standard in limiting Interpol abuse for assassinations, abductions, financial blacklisting and more.

Nov. 10, 2021 Ted R. Bromund and Jonathan Reich

Mo Brooks talks at a podium with the sign “Save America” and gestures into the air. American flags stand on either side of him.

Timeline: Rep. Mo Brooks, January 6, and the Effort to Overturn an Election

A comprehensive timeline of Rep. Mo Brooks’ reported actions and public statements in trying to overturn the American election.

Nov. 9, 2021 Justin Hendrix, Justin Cole and 2 more

A letter dated October 29, 2021. It reads, “From: Panel ICO U.S. vs. Khan; To: Convening Authority; The panel members listed below recommend clemency in the case of Majid Shoukat Khan. Mr. Kahn committed serious crimes against the U.S. and partner nations. He has plead guilty to these crimes and taken responsibility for his actions. Further, he has expressed remorse for the impact of the victims and their families. Clemency is recommended with the following justification: 1) Mr. Khan has been held without the basic due process under the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, he was held without charge or legal representation for nine years until 2021, and held without final sentencing until October 2021. Although designated on ‘alien unprivileged enemy belligerent,’ and not technically afforded the rights of U.S. citizens, the complete disregard for the foundational concepts upon which the Constitution was founded is an affront to American values and concept of Justice. 2) Mr. Khan was subjected to physical and psychological abuse well beyond approved enhanced interrogation techniques, instead being closer to torture performed by the most abusive regimes in modern history. This abuse was of no practical value in terms of intelligence, or any other tangible benefit to U.S. interests. Instead, it is a stain on the moral fiber of America; the treatment of Mr. Khan in the hands of U.S. personnel should be a source of shame for the U.S. government. 3) Mr. Khan committed his crimes as a young man reeling from the loss of his mother. A vulnerable target for extremist recruiting, he fell to influences furthering Islamic radical philosophies, just as many others have in recent years. Now at the age of 41 with a daughter he has never seen, he is remorseful and not a threat for future extremism. It is the view of the penal members below that clemency be granted based on the points above, as well as Mr. Khan’s continued cooperation with us efforts in other, more critical, prosecutions. Panel #1, Panel #8, Panel #5, Panel #9, Panel #12, Panel #4, Panel #11.”

Military Officers’ Handwritten Clemency Letter at Guantanamo – What It Says About Who We Are

"A long step toward the ultimate freedom: the realization that there is no them, there is only us."

Nov. 8, 2021 Joseph Margulies

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