Intelligence & Surveillance

Just Security’s expert authors provide legal and policy analysis of intelligence and surveillance activities, focusing on their impact on national security and on civil liberties and privacy rights, and their oversight by Congress and the courts.

Highlights:

Guantanamo Dispatch: Innocent or Guilty, Accused USS Cole Bomber May Never Go Free

Even if the jury were to acquit him, the U.S. military could still continue to hold the suspect in the USS Cole bombing case indefinitely.
The Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Cole is shown at sea approximately one month before being attacked by a terrorist-suicide mission which killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured approximately 36 others during a refueling operation October 12, 2000 in the port of Aden, Yemen.

Guantanamo Dispatch: Prosecutors Turn to Remote Testimony For First-Ever Capital Trial at Guantanamo

The witnesses in Guantanamo’s first-ever death penalty trial, the USS Cole bombing case, are expected to testify by video feed.
The Camp Justice sign near the Military Commissions court area at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Guantanamo Dispatch: Military Judge Orders Last Minute Sanity Board in USS Cole Bombing Case

A new mental health exam for the defendant, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, could signal delay in the USS Cole bombing case before jury selection begins at Guantanamo Bay.

Guantanamo Dispatch: The USS Cole Case Edges Toward Trial

Carol Rosenberg reports from Guantanamo Bay on the upcoming pre-trial hearing in the USS Cole bombing case.
A blue architectural blueprint-style graphic with white grid lines and hand-lettered labels arranged like room names on a floor plan, symbolizing the architecture of institutional reinvention.

Reinvention Blueprint No. 3: To Unmake the Surveillance State, Rethink the Privacy Act

The Privacy Act is ill-equipped to address contemporary privacy risks, much less to constrain an executive branch determined to use the data in its possession for new purposes.
A sign for Camp Justice in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

Twenty-Five Years After 9/11 – and Still Waiting for Justice

Because of the United States' use of torture on the September 11 suspects, justice for the 9/11 plotters remains elusive 25 years later.
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The logo of the AI assistant "Claude Mythos".

When Intelligence Becomes a Strategic Asset: Frontier AI, Sandbox Breakouts, and the Case for Independent Oversight

Advanced AI systems have crossed an important threshold from commercial software to technologies viewed as strategic national assets.
Businessman working on laptop with artificial intelligence law icons showing regulation, ethics and compliance standards, highlighting responsible technology governance and legal risk management.

Accountable Artificial Intelligence Series

As the risks of artificial intelligence continue to mount, the expert analysis in this series engages the fundamental question of what ought to happen when AI risks manifest into…
President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during his last daily morning briefing at Palacio Nacional on September 30, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Persecution by Other Means: Mexico and the First Test of the ICC’s Cyber Policy

A new report finds that the Mexican government's actions against journalists from 2018 to 2024 could constitute grounds to investigate the crime of persecution.
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Collection: Questions for Congress

Collection of articles with key oversight questions for the U.S. Congress by leading experts, organized by topic.
Three blue-helmeted soldiers sit atop a heavy duty white pickup truck with "UN" on the side in the foreground, as three other "blue helmets" as the peacekeepers are called, stand or work on the ground,, with a white UN armored personnel carrier sits in the background under a large tree. The ground underneath it all is dry red earth, marked with vehicle tracks.

Keep the Blue Helmets Ready — They Are Needed More Than Ever

Member states must ensure that UN peacekeeping forces are prepared and equipped to deploy, mediate, protect civilians, and respond to global crises.
Kouloglou, dressed in a blue suit and white, open-neck shirt, stands in a street holding a mobile phone in one hand in front of him, as if he is either speaking to someone on it via video or taking a photo.

Tackling Spyware Abuse: What States Must Do Under International Law to Protect Journalists and Strengthen Security

States should treat spyware governance as a top-tier political priority and work toward a binding, enforceable regulatory framework.
The Camp Justice sign near the Military Commissions court area on June 27, 2023 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The War on Terror: A Quarter Century of Unheeded Warnings

The global war on terror demands reflection and reckoning for the damage it caused to human rights and the international legal order.

9/11 Then and Now: How It Shapes Us 25 Years On

We asked experts with deep personal and professional ties to the post-9/11 era: how did 9/11 shape your path, and how does it continue to shape us 25 years later?

The Just Security Podcast: 9/11 at 25 Years: The State of U.S. National Security, Intelligence, and Alliances Today

Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman are joined by Daniel Fried and Nicholas Rasmussen to discuss the enduring impact of 9/11 on U.S. counterterrorism and foreign policy.
New York, USA – March 29th, 2017: A NYPD officer standing in Times Square next to a police vehicle warning of the risk of terrorism late in the day.

The Looming Terrorist Threats to America

25 years after 9/11, U.S. counterterrorism officials are being asked to do more with less.
In a tense-filled scene, six people are gathered on the far side of an oakwood-colored table scattered with papers and pens, a coffee dispenser and disposable cups in the foreground and a suited man standing in shadows at the back left. Rice has an expression of concern as she's looking to her left toward Cheney on the phone. Three of the other people around her, two women including Hughes and a man, stand around her and one man kneels to her right, all focused on the phone conversation Cheney apparently is having the the president.

A Quarter Century After 9/11: Lessons Learned and Lost

A former member of the George W. Bush administration’s National Security Council reflects on what the United States got right and wrong in its response to the 9/11 attacks.
Illustration of hands typing on a keyboard with monitors displaying computer code in the background.

AI-Cyber Operations: A New Frontier for Public-Private Partnerships

For the United States to take the lead in AI cyber operations capabilities, government and industry must create appropriate safeguards.
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