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681 Articles
Reflecting on 25 Years of US Policy Towards Iraq
January marks the 25th anniversary of the first Gulf War. Many in the military look back on Operation Desert Storm with nostalgia. Objectives were limited, clear and achievable.…
Instability and Terrorism in Africa’s Sahel: A Primer
Africa’s Sahel region has been in the international news a lot since 2012, largely because of its increasing political instability and insecurity. More recently, the region has…
The European Court of Human Rights Constrains Mass Surveillance (Again)
In a decision that may someday be considered the penultimate nail in the coffin that European courts have been building for mass surveillance, the European Court of Human Rights…
What the Senate Preserved in Blocking the SAFE Act
Too often, when political decisions are driven by fear, the pressure on lawmakers to do “something” outweighs efforts toward creating sound public policy that takes practical…
A Wider Talent Pool Means a Stronger Marine Corps: A Response to Rep. Hunter
In a January 8 interview with Politico, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) asserted that Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus’s support for opening all combat roles in the Marine Corps…
National Security Letters and Leak Investigations
Journalists were reminded again last week of how little legal protection actually exists when the federal government decides to investigate national security leaks. In an ongoing…
“Ideating” on ISIS and Silicon Valley
In a lot of Silicon Valley meetings, participants “iterate,” “ideate,” and “sync,” and do other buzzwordy things. Every once in a while something innovative and impactful…
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…
Fixing Pre-Publication Review: What Should Be Done?
Jack Goldsmith and Oona Hathaway called attention in several recent columns to the pre-publication review process (here, here, here, and here) that many current and former national…
Content Is Content, No Matter How Small
Recently, Orin Kerr and I had a brief conversation on Twitter regarding the Fourth Amendment and the content/non-content distinction. Specifically, Orin asked those of us who subscribe…
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…
ISIS in the United States: Which Legal Regime Applies?
Consider the following hypothetical: It is 10:00pm in Times Square, New York City. The “city that never sleeps” is bustling with tourists, Broadway shows, street performers,…