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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3,471 Articles
A plume of smoke rises following a reported explosion in Tehran on February 28, 2026. Israel's defence ministry announced February 28 it had launched a "preemptive strike" on Iran as sirens sounded in Jerusalem and people across the country received phone alerts about an "extremely serious" threat.

International Reactions to Military Strikes on Iran: A Tipping Point for the UN Charter?

Positions taken at the UN Security Council are a harbinger of whether the legal cornerstone of the international order that is designed to maintain world peace can hold.
EU and Ukrainian flags fly in the wind in front of the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter for the 4th year anniversary of the full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, on February 23, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

Toward A Just and Lawful Peace in Ukraine: Part II

As the war in Ukraine continues to unfold, international lawyers must keep insisting that law be injected into diplomacy and accountability into power politics.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (C) and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (R) during a press briefing held at the White House February 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

What Just Happened: Tariffs Are Gone and Then Back Again

The SCOTUS decision on Trump's tariffs, and the president’s subsequent reaction, leave many questions about tariff rates and what comes next.
Headquarters of the New York Police Department, Manhattan New York, February 22, 2026 (photo by Melissa Bender)

FBI’s “Stand Down” Directive to NYPD on Jeffrey Epstein Investigations, and More

The most comprehensive timeline to date of the publicly available record on New York law enforcement authorities’ action and inaction with regard to Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell…
Exterior view of the International Committee of the Red Cross headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, a large white and tan multi-story building with rows of windows and the ICRC flag on the roof, under a clear blue sky.

Closing Loopholes Across Time: the ICRC’s New Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention

​The ICRC's updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention fills a loophole-closing function and reasserts international humanitarian law's core protective purpose.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent's back is to the camera, facing the front door of an apartment building during an immigration raid or enforcement operation.

ICE Administrative Warrants and the Fourth Amendment: A Response to the DHS General Counsel

DHS says ICE agents can enter homes to arrest noncitizens using administrative warrants, without judicial oversight. DHS's position has no legal basis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at the Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of the Convention Establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crimes of Aggression Against Ukraine at the Hague on December 16, 2025 (via Council of Europe Media Gallery)

Toward A Just and Lawful Peace in Ukraine: Part I

A review of what law and lawyers have contributed toward the goal of a just and lawful peace in Ukraine over the past four years.
Protesters hold Iranian pre-Islamic revolution of 1979 flags in front of the United Nations office in Geneva​, Switzerland on February 17, 2026.

What the Current Crises Facing Iran Mean for Human Rights and Rules on the Use of Force

The human rights crisis in Iran reveals the limits of a legal system designed to restrain force even when restraint carries profound human costs.
Capitol Building

The Army Clause: A Forgotten Constitutional Check on ICE, CBP, and the Pentagon

Why the One Big Beautiful Bill violates a forgotten constitutional check on funding standing armies and how Congress can enforce it now.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau (L) speaks at a lectern as AUC Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf (R) stands at the right, both of them in front of an American flag and multiple green flags of the African Union.

New U.S.–AU Infrastructure Working Group Could Thrive With Strong Values-Based Safeguards

If the Strategic Infrastructure and Investment Working Group is to succeed, the United States must anchor its offerings in rules-based governance.
Two women wearing t-shirts under bulletproof vests, helmets and handcuffs, are escorted by armed guards on either side, walking up stairs to a court building. The vests and helmets have the letters BJMP on them, for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, part of the country's Ministry of the Interior.

The Philippines Is Jailing Journalists in the Name of “Terror Financing”: Why the World Should Be Alarmed

The case of a jailed journalist in the Philippines is a warning for how efforts to counter terrorism financing can be manipulated into political tools of repression.
Statue Of Liberty

The Spirit of Liberty—Horace E. Read Memorial Lecture

Finding the spirit of liberty in the United States requires looking beyond the leadership of elite institutions. Among ordinary citizens, there’s no scarcity of civic courage.
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