American democracy is shackled by the influence of money in politics. One of the arenas where the problem manifests itself most acutely is in Congress on questions of defense industry appropriations and arms exports. In a book that describes an unusual success story in overcoming moneyed interests in Congress, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote that the armed services and appropriations committees “were largely split not by party or ideology but, with a few exceptions, by the location of the pork.” As Gates and defense secretaries before him witnessed, Congress often voted for programs favoring defense facilities or contracts in members’ districts or states despite the Pentagon taking the strong position that the program was superfluous or wasteful.…   continue »

Jared Kushner played a leading role in orchestrating a $100 billion arms deal with the Saudi government, according to the New York Times. At the same time the Saudi air force has allegedly engaged in repeated war crimes in Yemen, including attacks on schools, hospitals, and a funeral home, on many of these occasions reportedly with the use of US weaponry.…   continue »

The Trump administration is reportedly seeking a new set of assurances from Saudi Arabia that it will minimize civilian casualties in its air campaign in Yemen—but would those assurances be credible? The effort to get new safeguards in place is now part of the process of determining whether to renew a sale of precision guided missiles to Saudi Arabia, Reuters’ Warren Strobel and Arshad Mohammed report.…   continue »

Looking for an expert’s explanation of why the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen, which are supported by US arms and assistance, repeatedly kill large numbers of civilians? Andrew Exum, who recently served as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East policy at the Pentagon has something for you.…   continue »

Since the outset of Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen, the UK has demonstrated that it is willing to go to great lengths to maintain its arms sales to Saudi Arabia.  This includes contorting the language of the UK’s own arms export control regime, and possibly even revising the regime, to allow for the provision of arms to a state against whom the evidence of widespread breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) is mounting.…   continue »

Earlier this month, a dramatic event occurred in the war in Yemen that could even shock those numbed by the continued pace of civilian casualties. A military craft and helicopter reportedly engaged in an attack on a boat carrying over 140 Somali refugees killing upwards of 42 people on board.…   continue »

On Monday, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the House of Commons that following the UK’s own analysis, the Saudi-led coalition has now admitted to using UK manufactured cluster munitions in Yemen. Mr. Fallon heralded the “transparent admission” by the coalition, and added, “we therefore welcome their announcement today that they will no longer use cluster munitions.” Many news outlets ran a headline focused on the Saudi-led coalition’s statement that it would stop using cluster munitions in Yemen (including Al Jazeera, Fox, Reuters, UPI).…   continue »

Just Security editors occasionally select a noteworthy law review article, essay, or book on topics that may be relevant to our readers—especially if it intersects with national security practice on the ground. The current issue of International Law Studies includes an important article on the legal risks for states and officials in partnering with foreign military forces.…   continue »

Air strike in Sana’a, May 2015. Image by Ibrahem Qasim – Wikimedia 

If the United States and United Kingdom (have) become not just supporters of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen but instead “co-belligerents,” is there a special duty on the US and British governments to investigate potential war crimes by the Saudis and their partners?…   continue »

This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks ahead to key developments on the horizon.

As a life-long observer of Russia, I have never been as concerned as I am now on the state of Russian-American relations.…   continue »