Terrorism & Violent Extremism
Just Security provides expert legal and policy analysis of terrorism, counterterrorism, and domestic and international violent extremism.
2,225 Articles
Hitting Iran Where It Doesn’t Hurt: Why U.S. Intervention in Yemen Will Backfire
It’s tempting to take last weekend’s attacks on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) targets as evidence that the Trump administration is prioritizing narrow counterterrorism…
Three Problems with President Trump’s Guantánamo Tweet
In case you missed it, this morning’s tweetstorm from the White House began with this missive: 122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have…
More Info Needed on Travel Ban’s Claim that 300 Refugees Under Counterterrorism Investigations
To justify why it’s suspending the U.S. refugee program, President Donald Trump’s new executive order states that 300 people who entered the US as refugees are now…
The Global Counterterrorism Forum–Multilateralism that Even Trump Should Like
In his first speech to Congress, President Donald Trump said that, “our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world.” However, it is…
DO Believe the Hype: DHS’s “Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement” (VOICE) May Target Legal Immigrants Too
In his joint session to Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump highlighted a new immigration policy, which many, many, many mistakenly assume applies only to undocumented…
A Look at the Case of the ex-CIA Officer Being Extradited to Italy for Her Role in a 2003 Rendition
A Gulfstream IV business jet similar to the one suspected of transporting Abu Omar during his rendition. (Eugene Butler/Wikimedia Commons) [This post has been updated to reflect…
Trump’s CVE Program: Going From Bad to Worse
Men walk to Friday Prayer at the Omar Mosque in Paterson, N.J. in 2012 after revelations that the NYPD had crossed into New Jersey to conduct surveillance on Newark and area muslims.…
How Trump’s Team Can Use Obama’s Counterterrorism Playbook to Defeat al-Qa’ida and ISIL
The First of Many Challenges. The U.S. military’s January 29 raid in Yemen vividly illustrates the high-stakes challenges involved in counterterrorism operations – particularly…
‘Forever War’ Symposium Offers Timely Perspective on Trump’s Policies
The Columbia Human Rights Law Review, in collaboration with the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, recently published a symposium edition dedicated to the relationship…
Targeted Killing Under Trump: Law, Policy, and Legal Risk
A recent Presidential Memorandum directs the Secretary of Defense to develop a preliminary plan to defeat ISIS. The plan “shall include . . . recommended changes to any United…
How to Unmask Trump’s Detention Plans: Ask about the Yemen Raid
On Wednesday, we received news from the New York Times of a revised draft Executive Order that would require the Secretary of Defense to “maintain and continue to use” Guantanamo…
The Trump Administration’s Draft EO on GTMO—Strategic, Legal, and Financial Implications
On Wednesday morning, the New York Times published a revised draft of a proposed Executive Order (EO) concerning the detention of enemy combatants. The draft EO reflects the…