Terrorism & Violent Extremism
Just Security provides expert legal and policy analysis of terrorism, counterterrorism, and domestic and international violent extremism.
2,223 Articles

Transparency on Targeted Killings: Promises Made, but Little Progress
Since President Barack Obama’s May 2013 counter-terrorism speech, attention to and criticism of US targeted killings practice and policy has notably dropped off inside the US. …

Response to Kevin Jon Heller on War/Not War with Al-Qaeda
Last week, I wrote a post describing how opposition to US counterterrorism policies has vacillated over the past twelve years. I showed how arguments that the conflict with Al…

Debate (Round 1): Against the Notion of Competing Legal Frameworks in the “War on Terror”
This post is the third in a series from Gabor Rona, Geoffrey Corn, and Just Security’s Derek Jinks. The debate addresses a fundamental question for US national security law:…

Debate (Round 1): The Military Component of Counter-Terror Operations
This post is the second in a series from Gabor Rona, Geoffrey Corn, and Just Security’s Derek Jinks. The debate addresses a fundamental question for US national security…

Debate (Round 1): The ‘Lutte’ Against Terrorism
This post is the first in a series from Gabor Rona, Geoffrey Corn, and Just Security’s Derek Jinks. The debate addresses a fundamental question for US national security law:…

A New Face in the U.S.-Pakistani Relationship
[Note from Ryan Goodman: It is an honor for us to publish an essay from Ambassador Cameron Munter, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan 2010-2012 and in several other distinguished…

Al Bahlul Argument Post-Mortem
If one thing was clear from this morning’s oral argument before the en banc D.C. Circuit in al-Bahlul v. United States, it was the consistent skepticism from at least five…

The Other, Lurking Constitutional Question in al-Bahlul
I would add only one thing to Jen’s thorough summary of the al-Bahlul argument next Monday, about something she references at the very end of her post: Besides ex post…

Preview — Al Bahlul in the D.C. Circuit: The Fate of Military Commissions at Guantánamo
On Monday, September 30, the D.C. Circuit, sitting en banc, will hear argument in al Bahlul v. United States – a case definitely worth watching. The immediate question is whether…

Good Reasons May Exist to Close CIA Drone Program—But Claim that CIA Agents are “Unprivileged Belligerents” is Not One of Them
Senator John McCain has vowed to accelerate the effort to transition control of drone operations from the CIA to the Pentagon, and he will likely have support from top Senate Democrats.…

Human Rights and the Pitfalls of FBI Assistance at Westgate
In yesterday’s post on Just Security, Steve and Jennifer raise important issues as to what authority the AUMF may or may not grant the United States to respond to al-Shabaab…

The Deeper Lesson from Terrorist Expatriation Proposals
[Note: The following post is derived from remarks prepared for last Friday’s symposium on “Citizenship, Immigration and National Security After 9/11,” sponsored by the Fordham…