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There’s a Strong Case for a Special Prosecutor to Investigate Trump’s Russia Ties
What the U.S. Intelligence Community has concluded was a covert Russian operation targeting the U.S. presidential election to help President Trump win was an extraordinary assault…
The Troubling Application of the Political Question Doctrine to Congressional Force Authorizations
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Nov. 21 dismissed the suit brought by U.S. Army Captain Nathan Michael Smith challenging the legality of the military campaign…
Untangling the Web of Actors in Syria and Additional Complexities of Classifying Armed Conflicts
As the international community struggles to find solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, several recent posts at Just Security and elsewhere have offered interpretations…
New UN Report Highlights Freedom of Expression Violations Across the Globe
UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, yesterday issued his fourth report, a comprehensive survey…
Does JASTA Violate International Law?
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) is now the law of the United States, Congress having overridden President Obama’s veto of the bill. Among other things,…
The UK’s Al-Saadoon Case: Stepping Back From the Extraterritorial Application of the ECHR for Physical Force
On September 9, the United Kingdom’s Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Al-Saadoon and Others v. Secretary of State for Defence. This is a case dealing with almost 1,300…
A Broken Playbook: The NYPD Targeted Muslims in Over 95-Percent of Investigations That Broke Surveillance Rules
The NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau consistently broke court-imposed rules governing investigations involving political activity, according to a recent report by the NYPD Inspector…
Unprecedented and Unlawful: The NSA’s “Upstream” Surveillance
The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (FAA) — the statute the government uses to engage in warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international communications — is scheduled to…
Trump’s Calls to Pillage Iraqi Oil
In his appearance with Secretary Clinton at NBC’s Commander-in-Chief Forum earlier this month, Donald Trump called for actions that amount to a war crime. Addressing US policies…
The Updated First Geneva Convention Commentary, DOD’s Law of War Manual, and a More Perfect Law of War: Part III
This third post of a series on the ICRC’s Updated Commentary on the First Geneva Convention of 1949 offers some concluding observations and further comparisons with the recent…
A Response to “The Tech”: Continuing the Vulnerability Equities Process Debate
In my recent Just Security piece, I argued that Aitel and Tait’s suggestions in Lawfare to focus the Vulnerability Equities Process (VEP) more narrowly on strategic intelligence…
Fighting Human Trafficking in Conflict: Ideas for the UN Security Council
Slavery – is it making a comeback? There is a growing awareness that as many as 45.8 million people may be enslaved around the world today, and that supply-chains for basic commodities…