Terrorism & Violent Extremism
Just Security provides expert legal and policy analysis of terrorism, counterterrorism, and domestic and international violent extremism.
2,228 Articles

Wall Street Journal Grants Anonymity to al-Qaeda’s “First Easily Accessible Media Liaison”
The Wall Street Journal today quotes at length from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) “first easily accessible media liaison” and explicitly grants the source…

Does the President’s Proposed AUMF Authorize Force Against ISIL “Wannabes”?
A key question in Wednesday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing involved what the administration means by ISIL’s “associated forces,” and how the President’s…

Secretary Kerry on the relationship between the 2001 and ISIL AUMFs
Last month, I wrote that “[a]ssuming the President and Congress mean for [the Administration’s draft] AUMF to impose limits on the President’s authority–including,…

Travel Bans and Due Regard: The UK’s New Counter-Terrorism and Security Act
On Feb. 12, 2015, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA) received Royal Assent and many provisions are already in force. The full version is available here. The…

Video: UN Expert Pablo de Greiff on Holding US Officials Responsible for Torture
Last week, I had the chance to ask Pablo de Greiff, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, about accountability…

The Backroom: An Inside Account of UN Sec-General’s Statement on US War in Syria
President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Image credit: White House/Pete Souza Several posts at Just Security have focused on international legal questions raised…

Jihad, Counter-Terrorism and Mothers
Women have had a limited presence in counter-terrorism discourses. When women come into view during conversations about terrorism they typically do so as the wives, daughters,…

Gender, Violent Extremism, and Countering Violent Extremism
The role of gender in violent extremism and countering violent extremism (CVE) has long been overlooked, despite being symptomatic of many of the human rights dilemmas CVE efforts…

The Intellectual—But Not Political—AUMF Consensus
[Cross-posted at Lawfare] A real consensus is developing on the contours of an appropriate AUMF—at least among academics and other commentators. It wasn’t always this way.…

Sunset and Supersede: Striking the Right Balance in the AUMF against ISIL
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…

End of War = End of Detention? Taliban detainee files renewed habeas petition
At year’s end, I examined here the possible legal significance of the President’s declaration on December 28 that “our combat mission in Afghanistan is ending,…

Another Successful Terrorism Trial Inside the US
Khaled Abdul Rahman Hamad al-Fawwaz was stoic as his fate was announced, staring straight ahead, unflinching, his face blank, wearing the same white Islamic kufi on his head and…