Executive Branch
Just Security’s expert authors provide analysis of the U.S. executive branch related to national security, rights, and the rule of law. Analysis and informational resources focus on the executive branch’s powers and their limits, and the actions of the president, administrative agencies, and federal officials.
4,757 Articles
A Primer on the Foreign Agents Registration Act—and Related Laws Trump Officials May Have Broken
About a week ago, I wrote a pair of posts about the increasing insinuation in various camps that, if in fact the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence…
Trump’s Meeting with China’s Xi Is Risky with U.S. Asia Policy Up in the Air
“Everything is under negotiation, including One China.” Those words, said by president-elect Donald Trump in January as he questioned U.S. policy on Taiwan, could mark the…
Norms Watch: Tracking the Erosion of Democratic Traditions (Mar. 24-31)
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the latest installment of Norms Watch, our series tracking both the flouting of democratic norms by the Trump administration and the erosion of…
ISIS Tactic of “Baiting” US-Coalition to Kill Civilians–and who bears responsibility
Many are searching for an explanation for the recent spike in civilian casualties resulting from coalition operations in Iraq and Syria, including specific incidents which have…
Flynn’s Public Offer to Testify for Immunity Suggests He May Have Nothing to Say
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn told the FBI and Congress that he is willing to testify in exchange for immunity. But it’s…
Following the Money: Russia, Cyprus, and the Trump Team’s Odd Business Dealings
While names like Carter Page, Roger Stone and Michael Flynn dominate headlines amidst allegations of possible collusion with Russia, there’s another angle to Donald Trump’s…
Q&A on Senate Intelligence Committee Press Conference with Burr and Warner
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who are leading the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential…
Sally Yates, Russia Testimony & Executive Privilege in the Trump Era
This week has shed light on the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to executive privilege, but it has also cast doubt over President Donald Trump’s ability to assert…
Why the Foreign Policy Sky is Not Falling
Both Michael Fuchs’ angst-ridden piece for Just Security (“The Deconstruction of America’s Global Leadership”), and Jack Goldsmith’s equally frenetically titled (but…
Trump’s Islamophobic Record Provides Backdrop for New Counterterrorism Policies
Every one of the 10 airports targeted by the new “laptop ban,” issued last week by the Department of Homeland Security, is located in a Muslim-majority country. Unsurprisingly,…
Shaky Legal Grounds: Syria Demands US Assault on Raqqa Must Work with Assad’s Forces
On Friday, Syria’s Ambassador to the United Nations stated that a U.S.-backed assault on ISIL’s capital city of Raqqa would be illegitimate unless militarily coordinated…
The International Legal Environment for Nuclear Deterrence
Russian spy ships stationed off the U.S. coast, provocative overflights of U.S. warships, and deployments of U.S. tanks in Central Europe are no longer artifacts of the Cold War,…