Recent Articles
We Are All Foreign Nationals — Even Orin Kerr
The always thought-provoking Orin Kerr has responded, on Lawfare, to my plea here for respecting the privacy rights of foreign nationals. Kerr finds my arguments unpersuasive,…
Future of Gitmo to Take Center Stage Later This Month
With much attention in recent weeks focused on the NSA collection activities or the U.S. drone program, it can be easy to allow other important national security issues to become…
Steve Vladeck Mention on Colbert Report
[Editorial note: Earlier this week, Co-Editor-in-Chief Steve Vladeck testified during the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s open hearing on the NSA and FISA…
A World Court for Human Rights is Not a Good Idea
Regional courts have played an important role in addressing the challenges of reconciling the protection of national security and respect for human rights. The European Court…
News Roundup and Notes: November 1, 2013
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. Surveillance Spying revelations…
Trick or Treat?: New FISA “Reform” Legislation Passes Senate Intelligence Committee
Earlier this week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein expressed outrage that “the Senate Intelligence Committee was not satisfactorily informed” of the NSA’s surveillance…
La Plus Ça Change: A Look Back at Intelligence Gathering Reform
“To understand the past in order to better propose guidance for the future” -Church Commission (1976) Today’s report that the NSA has been tapping into Google and Yahoo data…
Report to the General Assembly on Armed Drones and the Right to Life (or drones should follow the law, not the other way around)
[Editorial note: Last week, the United Nations discussed two major reports on drones. Just Security’s coverage included posts by Philip Alston, Ryan Goodman (here, here), Kevin…
“The Juice Wasn’t Worth the Squeeze” in Kyrgyzstan Fuel Contracts
The Pentagon recently announced the end of its use of the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan for logistical support of the war in Afghanistan. The arrangement unraveled due to…
News Roundup and Notes: October 31, 2013
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. Surveillance The Washington…
On Trees Falling Silently in Oversight Forests: Three Reflections on Yesterday’s HPSCI Hearing
Although it’s been overtaken by subsequent events, I thought I’d post some reflections on yesterday’s rare open hearing before the House Permanent Select Committee…
Belonging to a Party to a Non-International Armed Conflict: A Reply to Kevin Jon Heller [Updated]
In a recent post, I argued that an unexplored and independent legal basis exists for the US practice of targeting “associated forces” of al-Qaeda: the rules governing armed…