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.
4,599 Articles
Associated Forces: Why the Differences between ISIL and al-Qaeda Matter
Members of Ansar Dine in Timbuktu, Mali. Image credit: Magharebia via Wikimedia Commons. This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a…
Diplomatic Assurances, Torture, and Judicial Review:
The Bimenyimana Appeal
Later this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will hear argument in one of the more quietly important torture cases to come before the federal courts in the…
“Proportionate” Collateral Damage and Why We Should Care About What Civilians Think
In their recent blog post “Surveying Proportionality: Whither the Reasonable Military Commander?” Laurie Blank, Geoffrey S. Corn, and Eric Jensen level three criticisms against…
International Law on the Saudi-Led Military Operations in Yemen
On Wednesday night, Saudi Arabia launched a military intervention in Yemen to stop Houthi advances through the country. Calling it “Operation Decisive Storm,” Saudi Arabia…
Ninth Circuit Grants En Banc Rehearing in Posse Comitatus / Unlawful Surveillance Case
Back in September, I wrote about the Ninth Circuit’s fascinating decision in United States v. Dreyer, which applied the exclusionary rule to suppress evidence obtained…
Surveying Proportionality: Whither the Reasonable Commander?
At least two surveys gathering information about “public perceptions” of proportionality and collateral damage are making their way around the international arena by way of…
Perfidy, ambush, snipers, and the COLE bombing (al Nashiri) case
Thanks to Rogier Bartels and Kevin Heller for their fascinating debate here and at Opinio Juris on whether the alleged Israeli/U.S. car-bomb operation operation that killed Hezbollah’s…
No, Disguising Military Equipment As Civilian Objects to Help Kill Isn’t Perfidy
I read with great interest my friend Rogier Bartels’ long post arguing that it is perfidious to use a bomb planted in a civilian car to kill an enemy soldier. As Rogier notes,…
Killing With Military Equipment Disguised as Civilian Objects is Perfidy, Part II
On Friday, I concluded that modifying a civilian-looking vehicle into a military object to attack an adversary could indeed amount to perfidy during an international armed conflict.…
Preparing for Cyber War: A Clarion Call
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…
Whither the Section 215 Reauthorization Debate?
Remember section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act — and the bulk telephone records metadata program the government conducted pursuant a controversial interpretation of that authority?…
Why Sunset and Supersession Provisions Are Both Needed in an Anti-ISIL AUMF
Yesterday, I testified before the Congressional Progressive Caucus, led by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), in a forum on the President’s proposed authorization to use military…