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.
4,594 Articles
“Ending the Forever War”: A Progress Report
This past May, President Obama gave an historic speech at the National Defense University framing his counterterrorism strategy. In that speech, he committed himself to a concept…
A New War?: The United States Involvement in Yemen’s Internal Armed Conflict [Updated]
In an op-ed in the Guardian last week, I argued that the United States appears to have become militarily directly involved in fighting a domestic insurgency in Yemen as an ally…
Hands Off Encryption! Say New Amici Briefs in Lavabit Case
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is in the process of deciding the first legal challenge to government seizure of the master encryption keys that secure our communications with…
IHL, Transparency, and the Heyns’ UN Drones Report
In his critique of Christof Heyns’ new UN report on the right to life in the context of lethal drone strikes, Eric Jensen erects two straw men and then proceeds to knock them…
The Report of the UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial Executions: Law or Advocacy?
As has already been discussed in several postings, the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions has been published and deserves close attention. To the…
Targeted Killings — The US Power to Kill and the Yemeni Power to Capture
[For Just Security’s other coverage of yesterday’s Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reports on targeted killings, see Sarah Knuckey’s guide to the…
The Problematic “Belonging To” Analogy: A Response to Goodman
[Editor’s note: Ryan Goodman replies to Professor Heller in a subsequent post.] In a recent post here at Just Security, Ryan Goodman offered a novel – and characteristically…
Amnesty International’s Drone Strike Report: Once more into the lex lata/ferenda breach?
[Editor’s Note: The post below is part of an exchange between Naureen Shah and Chris Jenks on the recently released reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights…
Human Rights Groups Release Investigation Reports into US Targeted Killings: A Guide to the Issues
Today, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) released two detailed studies of US targeted killings in Yemen and Pakistan, putting forward specific evidence of…
Al-Qaeda, the Law on Associated Forces and “Belonging to” a Party (did the new UN drones reports get it right?)
[Editor’s note: Kevin Jon Heller responds to Ryan in a Guest Post, and Ryan replies in a subsequent post. A Guest Post by UN Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns also addresses…
UN Drone Strike Inquiry: Summary of the New Interim Report
Today, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson QC, issued an interim report on his international investigation into drone strikes and targeted…
Second Major UN Drones Report Now Publicly Available
The second major UN Report on drones this week is now publicly available — by Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism. Just Security’s Sarah…