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.
4,623 Articles
The Strategic Balance: A New US-Russian Zero Sum Game
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…
Full Text: Saudi-Led Coalition’s Statement of Explanation on Funeral Hall Bombing in Yemen
On Saturday, an investigation team with the Saudi-led coalition operations in Yemen released a statement explaining its findings of the reasons that led to the coalition’s…
How Retaking Mosul Could Spell Disaster for Civilians
After over two grueling years living under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS), Mosul’s 1.2 million civilians may suffer yet more abuse when the government tries to retake…
International Law and Proposed U.S. Responses to the D.N.C. Hack
In a short essay in Foreign Policy, retired Admiral James Stavridis addresses recent election season cyber operations against the Democratic National Party that the U.S. has attributed…
Letter to the Editor: Not So Fast on Calling it an “Armed Conflict” Between the US and Syria
In Tuesday’s provocative entry, “Is the United States Already in an ‘International Armed Conflict’ with Syria?,” Ryan Goodman states not only that the US is engaged…
The Law of Consent-Based Interventions
In a recent Just Security post, Adil Ahmad Haque asks what legal rules constrain the use of military force by an intervening state acting without the host state’s consent. Recognizing…
Between the Law of Force and the Law of Armed Conflict
Last week, I argued in favor of the ICRC’s position that if one state uses armed force in the territory of another state then an international armed conflict (IAC) arises between…
De Facto and De Jure Non-International Armed Conflicts: Is It Time to Topple Tadić?
When does violence between a state and non-state actor constitute an armed conflict and thus trigger the system of legal rules that apply in non-international armed conflict (NIAC)?…
If Burundi Leaves the Int’l Criminal Court, Can the Court Still Investigate Past Crimes There?
Last week, Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza’s office announced that his country had begun taking steps to leave the International Criminal Court, of which it has been a member…
China’s “Strategic Impatience” on the North Korean Crisis
How does China view the nuclear crisis that is developing in North Korea and the legal and policy strategies for addressing it? How should we understand recent discussions of support…
Why French President’s Threat of War Crimes Prosecutions against Russia, Syria Rings Hollow—But Needn’t
CNN is reporting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has canceled a visit to France next week following French President Francois Hollande’s statement that he would tell Putin…
Is the United States Already in an “International Armed Conflict” with Syria?
Many are debating whether the Obama administration should essentially go to war with Syria in an effort to halt the atrocities that Assad is committing in Aleppo and elsewhere…