Terrorism & Violent Extremism

Just Security provides expert legal and policy analysis of terrorism, counterterrorism, and domestic and international violent extremism.

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The words "My Government Did This" are displayed on a barrier on the Charles Helou highway in front of the ruined port of Beirut.

The Cost of Resilience: The Roots and Impacts of the Beirut Blast

The Aug. 4 explosion at the Beirut port is not the cause of catastrophe in Lebanon, it is the result. To understand its causes and impacts, we must look to what came before, including…
Two people in camo with guns nearby. Cover of U.N. Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) publication, “Guidelines to facilitate the use and admissibility as evidence in national criminal courts of information collected, handled, preserved and shared by the military to prosecute terrorist offences.”

The UN Guidelines on “Battlefield” Evidence and Terrorist Offences: A Frame, a Monet, or a Patchwork?

In December 2019 the United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), with the support of the traditional alphabet soup of other U.N. organizations focused…
Empty UN Security Council chamber.

The UN Security Council Is About to Dangerously Undermine Fair Trial Guarantees

Dangerous flaws in a current draft U.N. Security Council resolution on foreign fighters need to be addressed, if the Security Council is to live up to its responsibility to respect…
Somali soldiers enter Sanguuni military base, where an American special operations soldier was killed by a mortar attack on June 8, about 450 km south of Mogadishu, Somalia, on June 13, 2018.

House and Senate Chart Different Courses on US Clandestine Support of Foreign Militias

Special Operations Forces are a prized US military asset that requires careful oversight to prevent abuses, strategic miscalculations, and mission failures.
Iraqis walk past destroyed buildings as they evacuate a neighbourhood in the western part of the northern city of Mosul on April 5, 2017.

Ignoring Iraq’s Most Vulnerable Displaced Families Undermines US Stabilization Agenda in Iraq

U.S. troop numbers and economic reforms will no doubt receive the most attention in the U.S.-Iraq “strategic dialogue” set to continue this month. But the senior officials…
A woman wearing a niqab (full face veil) walks carrying an infant at al-Hol camp for displaced people in al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria on July 22, 2019, as people collect UN-provided humanitarian aid packages.

The Challenges of a New UN Security Council Resolution on Foreign Fighters

The United Nations Security Council is actively negotiating a new Chapter VII resolution directed at the regulation of so-called “foreign terrorist fighters” this month. The…
Judges Walid Akoum, Janet Nosworthy, David Re, Micheline Braidy and Nicola Lettier preside over the first hearing in the trial of four people accused of murdering former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague on January 16, 2014.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon is Set to Issue Historic Ruling on the Assassination of PM Hariri

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon will release its long-awaited judgment in the case involving the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. The verdict, set to…
A Lebanese protester waves a national flag amid clashes with security forces in the vicinity of Parliament in central Beirut on August 10, 2020.

Lebanon’s Peace Cartel is Irredeemable – How Donors Choose to Help Can Tip the Scales

Who controls aid matters for the immediate disaster response and for the leverage of those who have suffered the disaster against those who enabled it.
Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf speaks during a press conference on the actions taken by Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security agents in Portland.

DHS’s Portland Follies: Tracing the Official Public Narrative and Internal Communications

Jeffrey Michaels examines the rhetorical frameworks used by the Department of Homeland Security in describing protest events in Portland and beyond.
UNIFIL team walks among the destruction from the explosion at Beirut port on Aug 5, 2020.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (August 1-7)

(Editor’s Note: This is the latest in Just Security’s weekly series keeping readers up to date on developments at the United Nations at the intersection of national security,…
People cross a street with cars. There are more street lights than seems needed for such a small street. There are numbers and waves of circles overlaid the image.

New Technologies, New Problems – Troubling Surveillance Trends in America

The rapid advent of powerful digital surveillance technologies raises questions about the U.S. ability to maintain a balance between security and citizens' rights. Several troubling…
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AFRICOM’s Improved Civilian Casualty Reporting System Still Leaves Gaps for Somalia

Only with more ways to submit reports and the proper followup can the U.S. military start to rebuild trust among communities harmed by its actions.
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