Recent Articles
Fatally Flawed Anti-Torture Assurances
An man detained by U.S. forces in Iraq in 2005 After September 11, the United States and other countries heavily relied on diplomatic assurances as counterterrorism tools to legally…
U.S. Secrecy and Transparency in the Use of Lethal Force
Much of the news in the first few months of the Trump administration has been dominated by the Russia scandal, James Comey, and the President’s Twitter feed. Falling below…
The Early Edition: June 13, 2017
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. JEFF SESSIONS TESTIFIES…
Five (Not-So-Obvious) Questions that Att’y Gen. Jeff Sessions Should be Asked
There are many obvious questions that Senators and reporters should pose to Attorney General Jeff Sessions—such as asking him about his knowledge of the reasons the President…
National Security-Related Congressional Hearings, June 12-16
Monday, June 12 7:00pm – House Committee on Armed Services – The Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Budget Request from the Department of Defense (here)…
Cutting To the Bone of American Leadership
The recent resignation of David Rank, a 27-year career Foreign Service officer who was serving as acting U.S. Ambassador to China, is just the latest U.S. diplomatic casualty of…
Is Att’y Gen. Jeff Sessions About to Commit Perjury?
Following James Comey’s hearing on Capitol Hill, the Department of Justice issued a statement which flatly contradicts something that Comey said in his testimony. It appears…
The Early Edition: June 12, 2017
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. TRUMP-RUSSIA INVESTIGATION…
Recap of Recent Pieces on Just Security (June 2-9)
I. Featured Essay (on President Trump, the Intelligence Community, and Democratic Institutions) Jeffrey H. Smith, Of Laws, Not Men (Friday, June 9) II. Trump Campaign and Russia…
Parsing the White House Response to Comey’s Testimony
The most extraordinary thing to come out of the hearing the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held Thursday may not be former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony,…
Of Laws, Not Men
Those old enough to remember Watergate will recall that “we are a government of laws, not men” became a mantra. It was repeated so often as to risk banality. But we are a nation…
Norms Watch: Democracy, the Trump Administration, and Reactions to It (June 2-June 9)
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the latest installment of Norms Watch, our series tracking both the flouting of democratic norms by the Trump administration and the erosion of…