Recent Articles
News Roundup and Notes: October 2, 2014
Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news. IRAQ and SYRIA U.S. forces…
Welcome to Harvard Law School’s Program on International Law and Armed Conflict
We extend a warm welcome to a new initiative at Harvard Law School: The Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (PILAC). Headed up by Professor Gaby Blum and Naz Modirzadeh,…
Assessing the Claim that ISIL is a Successor to Al Qaeda—Part 1 (Organizational Structure)
The administration’s position that ISIL is a successor of al-Qaeda deserves serious consideration. We do so in this post, and show some serious flaws in this position. What hangs…
News Roundup and Notes: October 1, 2014
Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news. IRAQ and SYRIA U.S. strikes…
Security Agreement With Afghanistan Raises Key Questions About How and When War Ends
Today, the United States and Afghanistan signed a long-awaited bilateral security agreement. The U.S. government promised to withdraw combat troops by December, and to leave nearly…
War: What is it good for? 20 ISIL Questions for Congress
We still don’t know if Congress will even vote on providing new and specific authorization for a military campaign in Iraq and Syria. Thankfully, responsible members of Congress…
The Need for Both Legal and Technical Privacy Protections
Last week, Apple and Google came under intense criticism from the law enforcement and national security communities for their decisions to encrypt user data when devices are locked.…
British Parliament Authorizes Airstrikes in Iraq; Debate Predictably Weighs in on Action in Syria
On Friday, the British House of Commons overwhelmingly voted (524-43) to approve the U.K.’s participation in airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq. The success of the vote…
News Roundup and Notes: September 30, 2014
Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news. Afghanistan Today, the U.S.…
FBI is Hurting Apple and Google’s Competitiveness with Crypto Backdoor Demands
Last week, FBI Director James B. Comey dispatched his minions to yell at Apple and Google for architecting their smartphones such that government officials cannot decrypt information…
The Foreign Fighter Resolution: Implementing a Holistic Strategy to Defeat ISIL
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2178, adopted on September 24 after a debate involving dozens of world leaders, including United States President Barack Obama, is legally…
Obama’s ISIL Legal Rollout: Bungled, Clearly. But Illegal? Really?
Editors’ Note: The following post is the fourth installment of a new feature, “Monday Reflections,” in which a different Just Security editor will take a…