Counterterrorism
484 Articles
Implications of Trump’s New Drone Policy for Countries Assisting the U.S.
At the end of October, the New York Times reported two government officials as saying that the Trump administration had adopted its anticipated new approach to the deployment of…
Terror in NYC: The Real Test Comes Tomorrow, Not Today
New York City officials are already calling Tuesday’s awful attack in downtown Manhattan “an act of terror.” Whether they are right remains to be seen; but, if so, the…
Trump Should Release His New Lethal Force Policy
In an important new development, President Donald Trump has reportedly signed new rules for when lethal force can be used against suspected terrorists outside of active war zones.…
Happy PATRIOT Act Day!
On this day, 16 years ago, President George W. Bush signed into law the most sweeping, publicly acknowledged domestic surveillance authority in American history. Enacted six weeks…
Treasury’s Turf War Over Domestic Spying
BuzzFeed News recently reported serious allegations that the Treasury Department’s Office of Intelligence Affairs (OIA) is illegally accessing and analyzing the financial records…
Congressional Oversight and the Niger Attack
President Donald Trump’s handling of military condolences has dominated the coverage of the Oct. 4 deaths of four U.S. Special Operations forces soldiers in Niger. However, there…
Pluses and Minuses of the Imminence Standard in Counterterrorism Strikes
Last month, I wrote on the revisions that the Trump Administration reportedly plans to make to President Obama’s drone policy. The piece set off a robust conversation with…
Surveillance “Reform”: The Fourth Amendment’s Long, Slow, Goodbye
Over 16 years after the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent repeated passage or renewal of draconian “temporary” but “emergency” domestic surveillance laws in response, it’s…
My Priorities As UN Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism: The Problem of Permanent Emergencies
French soldiers patrolling a street of Saint Denis, France, during an anti-terrorist raid on November 18, 2015. France has been under a government-declared state of emergency…
Gun Violence Deserves As Robust a Response as Terrorism
When videos from the mass shooting in Las Vegas began circulating on social media last Sunday night, I immediately recognized the rapid sound of automatic gunfire. I knew the sound…
Addendum to My “Memo to the Human Rights Community” (on drone strikes outside of “hot battlefields”)
On Wednesday, I published an essay at Just Security titled, “Why the Laws of War Apply to Drone Strikes Outside “Areas of Active Hostilities” (A Memo to the Human Rights…
A Response to Goodman’s “Memo to the Human Rights Community”
Ryan Goodman’s “Memo to the Human Rights Community” is a perplexing critique that takes a surprising tone, coming from a former U.S. government official who worked on these…