Recent Articles
On Rereading the Torture Report – SSCI Focus Gave Too Many Perpetrators a Pass
I have an opinion piece in today’s New York Times Sunday Review provocatively titled (by the NYT editors), “Did the Torture Report Give the CIA a Bum Rap?” Why now, and why…
Recap of Recent Posts at Just Security (Feb 14–20)
I. Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) Against the Islamic State Ryan Goodman, AUMF, “Associated Forces,” and Slippery Slopes: Two More Data Points (Wednesday,…
Any Effort to Counter Violent Extremism Must Deal with Religion
Academically, I agree with the thrust of the Obama administration’s efforts not to invoke religion and thereby lend legitimacy to thugs and criminals. The problem with such a…
Six Questions Congress Should Ask the Administration about its ISIL AUMF
[Cross-posted at Lawfare] With congressional hearings on the Obama Administration’s proposed Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) for the Islamic State on the horizon,…
Washington’s New Drone Sales Policy Could Export US-Style Drone War
This week, the United States released a new policy for the export of US-made drones. The policy conditions any drone sale on a pledge by the foreign buyer government that it will…
News Roundup and Notes: February 20, 2015
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 major…
Think Again: The Limitations in the President’s Draft AUMF Do Have Meaning
Several prominent commentators have argued that the limitations in President Obama’s draft AUMF against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) would be meaningless if…
Guest Post: CVE Efforts Should be Based on Facts, Not Flawed Theories
Ed. note: This guest post was produced as part of the Brennan Center for Justice’s interview series, Rethinking Intelligence. Yesterday, the White House kicked-off a three-day summit…
News Roundup and Notes: February 19, 2015
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. WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON…
The Shrinking Military Commissions, Redux
Back in January, I wrote a post about the Convening Authority’s decision to “disapprove” the findings and sentence in the Guantánamo military commission trial…
In Syria – Learning Lessons from the “Success” of Yemen
Since Wednesday’s submission for a new authorization on the use of force against ISIL, many (including in this forum) are talking about the proposed act, how it relates to previous…
AUMF, “Associated Forces,” and Slippery Slopes: Two More Data Points
I recently examined, in an essay at Foreign Policy, the unusually expansive definition of associated forces and successor entities in the President’s proposed authorization to…