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.
3,152 Articles
Surveillance Is Still About Power
Since the Snowden revelations in 2013, surveillance has gone from a somewhat arcane term of art used mainly by scholars, spies, and tinfoil hat types, to a household word that…
A New UK-US Data Sharing Agreement: A Tremendous Opportunity, If Done Right
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
The High Standard of Proof in the Encryption Debate
Since the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris set off another around of debate about exceptional access, a lot of ink has been spilled on the subject of whether or not there…
Questions Congress Should Ask About Section 702
After passing a surveillance reform bill last year, Congress appears poised to turn to examine another controversial surveillance authority — Section 702 of FISA. Using Section…
IBM’s Terrorist-Hunting Software Raises Troubling Questions
Last week, Defense One published an article about a new use that IBM is pioneering for its data-crunching software: identifying potential terrorists in the stream of refugees entering…
Cryptopanic and James Comey’s Xanatos Gambit
For the past year or so I’ve been part of a cybersecurity working group at Harvard’s Berkman Center that on Monday released its first public report, Don’t Panic: Making Progress…
Democracy in Peril in Poland
The collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe unleashed one of the most remarkable political transformations of modern times, paving the way for millions of Europeans…
America’s Muddled Approach to Fighting ISIS
Last month, the Los Angeles Times ran a story that helped highlight one facet of the muddled thinking afflicting the US government’s campaign against ISIS: While the military…
Instability and Terrorism in Africa’s Sahel: A Primer
Africa’s Sahel region has been in the international news a lot since 2012, largely because of its increasing political instability and insecurity. More recently, the region has…
National Security Letters and Leak Investigations
Journalists were reminded again last week of how little legal protection actually exists when the federal government decides to investigate national security leaks. In an ongoing…
James Comey’s Default-Encryption Bogeyman
FBI Director James Comey recently told the Senate Judiciary Committee that encryption routinely poses a problem for law enforcement. He stated that encryption has “moved from…
Fixing Pre-Publication Review: What Should Be Done?
Jack Goldsmith and Oona Hathaway called attention in several recent columns to the pre-publication review process (here, here, here, and here) that many current and former national…