Recent Articles
Sustaining the War Effort: Targeting Islamic State Oil Facilities
Much of the legal analysis about the United States and its coalition partners’ airstrikes in Syria to date has concentrated on whether such strikes are lawful. The commencement…
News Roundup and Notes: October 3, 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 The U.S.,…
It’s Time to Pass the USA Freedom Act—Warts and All
Thirteen years after 9/11, the United States Congress appeared poised to begin the long overdue process of reining-in the intelligence establishment’s runaway surveillance practices.…
Of so-called “folk” international law and not-so-grey zones
Over at Lawfare, Naz Modirzadeh appears to lament the fact that, in some contexts, President Obama has determined to apply targeting standards more restrictive than what the law…
Here’s the New U.S.-Afghanistan Bilateral Security Agreement
After much confusion over which was the final security agreement (news organizations citing it had linked to a November 2013 “predecisional” version) I’ve just…
Constitutional “Cross-Ruffing”: My New Article
About a year ago, I wrote about the Second Circuit’s decision in the Ghailani case, in which, among other things, the Court of Appeals rejected a former Guantánamo detainee’s…
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…