Department of Defense (DoD)

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Parchment paper reading, “The Good Governance Papers: A Collection of Essays in favor of public integrity and the rule of law as written upon at Just Security Fall 2020”

Good Governance Paper No. 21: Obedience to Orders, Lawful Orders, and the Military’s Constitutional Compact

Latest in a series of top experts exploring proposals to restore and promote nonpartisan principles of good government, public integrity, and the rule of law.
Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on December 7, 2018.

Loyalty Above All: The “Shallow State” of the Trump Administration

A compilation of executive branch positions deprived of competence and expertise, and filled instead with political loyalists.
Parchment paper reading, “The Good Governance Papers: A Collection of Essays in favor of public integrity and the rule of law as written upon at Just Security Fall 2020”

Good Governance Paper No. 20: Repairing and Strengthening Norms of Nuclear Restraint

Latest in a series of top experts exploring proposals to restore and promote nonpartisan principles of good government, public integrity, and the rule of law.
Federal officers released tear gas in front of the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse on July 20, 2020 in Portland, Oregon.

Preventing a Military Decision About Who Won a Disputed Election

"The Pentagon’s senior officials should emphasize that the military must never receive a self-interested order about who has won an election."
Parchment paper reading, “The Good Governance Papers: A Collection of Essays in favor of public integrity and the rule of law as written upon at Just Security Fall 2020”

Good Governance Paper No. 6 (Part Two): Domestic Military Operations — The Role of the National Guard, Posse Comitatus Act and More

Sixth in series of top experts exploring proposals to restore and promote nonpartisan principles of good government, public integrity, and rule of law.
Parchment paper reading, “The Good Governance Papers: A Collection of Essays in favor of public integrity and the rule of law as written upon at Just Security Fall 2020”

Good Governance Paper No. 6 (Part One): Domestic Military Operations — Reforming the Insurrection Act

Sixth in series of top experts exploring proposals to restore and promote nonpartisan principles of good government, public integrity, and the rule of law.
This photo taken on September 12, 2019 shows people walking next to a Uighur cemetery in Shayar in the region of Xinjiang.

The 116th Congress’s Record on International Human Rights: The Good, the Bad, and the Unfinished Business

Action and inaction on Uyghurs, Yemen, the Rohingya, asylum seekers, Venezuela, and more highlight the crises facing the next Congress.
Trump looks out from the Truman Balcony as he arrives at the White House upon his return from Walter Reed Medical Center, where he underwent treatment for Covid-19, in Washington, DC, on October 5, 2020. He does not wear a face mask.

Shaky Hands in the Oval Office

Like another president's illness, Trump's bout with COVID-19 exposes the risks of a personalized foreign policy that dismisses national security structures.
Sean Conley, Physician to US President Donald Trump, stands with his arms crossed and without a face mask, while listening to an update President's health as Trump is treated for a COVID-19 infection at Walter Reed Medical Center October 4, 2020, in Bethesda, Maryland. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows wears a face mask and sits on a bench behind Conley.

Military Medical Ethics and Dr. Conley’s Misrepresentations of the President’s Health

"To witness military physicians bending or burying the truth does long-lasting damage to the confidence required for the system to work."
U.S. Army soldiers work fortifying the US-Mexico border fence with barbed wire on November 26, 2018 in Mexicali, Mexico.

DOD Inspector General’s Report Whitewashes Potential Violations of the Posse Comitatus Act

In finding no violation of Posse Comitatus Act, the IG misinterprets federal law and exaggerates the power of DOD policy — creating a dangerous precedent for the domestic use…
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks about military operations flanked by Defense Secretary Mark Esper during the daily White House coronavirus press briefing April 1, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Finding the Right U.S. Defense Leaders

Military experience should not be a litmus test for a senior civilian position in the Defense Department, but it should not be a disqualifier either.
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley hold a press conference in the briefing room at the Pentagon on March 2, 2020 in Washington, DC.

A Military Litmus Test? Evaluating the Argument that Civilian Defense Leaders Need Military Experience

There are several reasons to reject blanket assertions that military service acts as a general qualifier for running or contributing to national security affairs in non-military…
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