Counterterrorism
516 Articles
James Comey’s Default-Encryption Bogeyman
FBI Director James Comey recently told the Senate Judiciary Committee that encryption routinely poses a problem for law enforcement. He stated that encryption has “moved from…
Social Media Companies Should Decline the Government’s Invitation to Join the National Security State
The pressure on social media companies to limit or take down content in the name of national security has never been greater. Resolving any ambiguity about the how much the Obama…
The Worst of the Worst? What al-Shamiri’s Case Tells Us About Gitmo Detainees
Earlier this month, the US government revealed that Guantánamo detainee Mustafa al-Aziz al-Shamiri was a low-level fighter, not the al-Qaeda courier and trainer the government…
International Law, Targeting, and Detention in the Age of International Terrorism
Editor’s Note: This is the second post in a miniseries about the International Committee of the Red Cross’s newly released Report on International Humanitarian Law and the…
The UN Security Council’s New Resolution on Women, Peace, and Security
The United Nations Security Council this week unanimously adopted a new resolution on women, peace, and security meant to improve the UN’s agenda for these issues. The new resolution (UNSCR…
The Bass-Ackwards Detainee Transfer Provision in the FY2016 NDAA
There’s a lot to say about the 1,915-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016 that was unveiled yesterday by the House and Senate Armed Services…
A Short (Yet Still Forlorn) Reply in the Taliban Sources Project Debate
It appears from the reply of Shaheed Fatima to my earlier post that the UK’s counterterrorism legislation is engendering ever deeper difficulties in gauging its meaning and impacts.…
The Complexities of Women, Peace, Security and Countering Violent Extremism
In a recent post, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin analyzes the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee’s (CTC) first-ever open briefing on the role of women in countering terrorism…
The Remarkable (and Remarkably Unnoticed) Guantánamo PRB Scorecard
One of the best-kept secrets concerning the ongoing detentions of non-citizens at Guantánamo is the Periodic Review Board (PRB) process being conducted pursuant to Executive…
The British Library Did Not Need to Self-Censor
I enjoyed reading Shaheed Fatima’s excellent post from last week about the British Library’s decision not to accept the digital archive of materials collected by the Taliban…
Counter-Terrorism Committee: Addressing the Role of Women in Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism
The UN Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS) has become the dominant discourse framing women’s engagement in international affairs over the past fifteen…
ODNI’s Latest Guantánamo Reengagement Numbers Are Encouraging
Earlier this month, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its bi-annual assessment of the “reengagement” of released Guantánamo Bay detainees.…