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681 Articles
Zivotofsky v. Kerry
The Jerusalem passport case involves an important question of the separation of powers in the conduct of foreign affairs: Is the President’s power to recognize foreign states…
Consequences of the Fact-Based Armed Conflict Test in Yemen’s Internal Armed Conflict
Ryan’s recent post about ongoing “drone strikes” in Yemen raises an issue that has troubled me for quite some time from a legal, policy, and advocacy perspective. In the…
Trial Chamber Finds Power to Compel Witnesses is an “Implied Power” of the ICC
In an important victory for the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC, the Ruto Trial Chamber, by majority, today issued subpoenas for eight prosecution witnesses for the prosecution…
The Difficulty of Relative Judgments about the Utility of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques: The SSCI Report in Context
Transparency is critically important to the legitimacy and effectiveness of democratic governments. Transparency facilitates both the responsiveness of government to the needs…
Civilian War Victims Receive Recognition in US Law
When the US military was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, it had no plan for addressing civilian casualties despite following rules prohibiting disproportionate or deliberate…
US Policy on Uganda’s LGBT Rights Violations and the Hunt for Joseph Kony
Last night the Washington Post (Karen DeYoung) reported that President Obama has deployed at least four CV-22 Osprey aircraft and about 150 Air Force Special Forces to Uganda in…
The So-Called Huawei Scandal and the Snowden Operation
We should spy on China. And Russia. And Iran. And plenty of other countries too. They are our political, diplomatic and economic competitors and enemies. And they spy on us. If…
The US Response to Uganda’s Anti-LGBT Law – Threat or Opportunity for Regional Security Efforts
A few weeks ago officials from the National Security Council and Ambassador Susan Rice held meetings with leading Ugandan LGBT activist Frank Mugisha to discuss the US government’s…
The Continuing Importance of a Low Threshold for LOAC Application in International Armed Conflict
Reports yesterday from Ukraine include the news that at least one Ukrainian soldier at a military base in Crimea has been killed, most likely by Russian soldiers. Furthermore,…
How President Obama can fulfill his promise to end bulk collection of telephone metadata, while preserving intelligence capabilities
On January 17, President Obama promised to end the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of metadata on Americans’ phone calls under “section 215” (which is really…
Crime, Sentencing and the War on Terror: Further Thoughts on the Al Darbi Plea
Last month, Ahmed Muhammed Haza al Darbi became the sixth Guantanamo detainee to plead guilty to war crimes before a military commission. The U.S. has accused al Darbi of various…
The PCLOB Report and the Need for Executive Branch Constitutional Enforcement
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has been both praised and criticized for the conclusions of its recent report on NSA bulk metadata collection: that the program…