Terrorism & Violent Extremism
Just Security provides expert legal and policy analysis of terrorism, counterterrorism, and domestic and international violent extremism.
2,225 Articles

How Trump Can Work with Russia to Challenge the Status Quo and to Control ISIS
What should President Donald Trump do if ISIS crashed a plane into the Freedom Tower next September 11, 2017? After 16 years of a so-called “war on terror,” would experts be…

UK Supreme Court Judgment on Extra-Territorial Detention in Iraq and Afghanistan
Today, the UK Supreme Court gave judgment (full text) in the joined appeals of Al Waheed v Ministry of Defence and Serdar Mohammed v Ministry of Defence (in which I represented…

UK Supreme Court Issues Two Major Decisions—On cooperation with CIA interrogations and on military detention
On Tuesday, the UK Supreme Court issued two important judgments, which will affect the power of the British government to carry out certain national security policies and, in turn,…

5 Best and 5 Worst Moments from the Week’s Confirmation Hearings on US National Security Issues
The week of confirmation hearings is over, and it’s time to take stock of what we have learned from the people the President-elect has nominated to lead his administration in…

New Symposium Scholarship on Human Shields
We have covered on these pages the legal and moral issues surrounding the use of human shields in contemporary armed conflict situations. The American Society of International…

The Troubling Application of the Political Question Doctrine to Congressional Force Authorizations
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Nov. 21 dismissed the suit brought by U.S. Army Captain Nathan Michael Smith challenging the legality of the military campaign…

Integrating Iraqi Fighting Forces Is Not Enough to Curb Abuse
Human Rights Watch saw Shia armed forces allied with the Iraqi government commit horrific abuses against the Sunni civilian population during the operation to retake Fallujah back…

Frontline’s ‘Exodus’ Individualizes a Global Crisis
Every year around Christmastime, a few million Americans sit down and watch the original version of “The Sound of Music,” starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, when…

State Responsibility for Assisting Armed Groups: A Legal Risk Analysis
Last month, the US State Department’s Legal Adviser Brian Egan highlighted one of the most significant legal issues on the horizon: US and coalition forces’ handling of large…

Recommended Holiday Reading from Just Security’s Editors
Just in time for holiday shopping, we asked some of our Just Security editors to help put together a reading list, partly with the incoming Trump administration in mind. We asked…

The Drone Memos Offers a Critique of Obama Administration’s ‘Shortsighted’ Policies on Targeted Killing
There are a lot of books about drones. In addition to fictionalized accounts of drone use and technical manuals, numerous policy books have been written that describe drone technology,…

US-led Coalition Needs to Improve ‘Opaque, Ad Hoc’ Process for Reporting Civilian Casualties, New Report Says
President Barack Obama’s July 2016 Executive Order on Civilian Casualties has improved U.S. monitoring and reporting of civilian casualties caused by its airstrikes, but far…