ISIS
414 Articles
Reminder by Charlie Savage of Surveillance Implications of ISIS AUMF
Charlie Savage, correspondent for The New York Times and author of “Power Wars,” was a speaker at a recent Heritage Foundation event entitled, “Is it Time for…

A Colleague’s Response to Finer and Malley on Obama’s Strategy Against Terrorism
The months since Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election have been a time for soul searching among those of us who served in the Obama Administration. Did our work…

‘Forever War’ Symposium Offers Timely Perspective on Trump’s Policies
The Columbia Human Rights Law Review, in collaboration with the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, recently published a symposium edition dedicated to the relationship…

Targeted Killing Under Trump: Law, Policy, and Legal Risk
A recent Presidential Memorandum directs the Secretary of Defense to develop a preliminary plan to defeat ISIS. The plan “shall include . . . recommended changes to any United…

Safe Zones for Syria: A List of Questions that Policymakers Need to Answer
President Donald Trump seems intent on creating so-called “safe zones” in Syria. Last week he told ABC’s David Muir, “I’ll absolutely do safe zones…

How News Media Can Get Misled by Tough Talk on Killing Terrorists
Image: US airstrike with 2,000lb bombs on ISIS bank in Mosul, Jan. 11, 2016 – CENTCOM Less than a half hour after Donald Trump took the oath of office on Friday, ABC News…

How Trump Can Work with Russia to Challenge the Status Quo and to Control ISIS
What should President Donald Trump do if ISIS crashed a plane into the Freedom Tower next September 11, 2017? After 16 years of a so-called “war on terror,” would experts be…
New Symposium Scholarship on Human Shields
We have covered on these pages the legal and moral issues surrounding the use of human shields in contemporary armed conflict situations. The American Society of International…
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…

Integrating Iraqi Fighting Forces Is Not Enough to Curb Abuse
Human Rights Watch saw Shia armed forces allied with the Iraqi government commit horrific abuses against the Sunni civilian population during the operation to retake Fallujah back…
State Responsibility for Assisting Armed Groups: A Legal Risk Analysis
Last month, the US State Department’s Legal Adviser Brian Egan highlighted one of the most significant legal issues on the horizon: US and coalition forces’ handling of large…

US-led Coalition Needs to Improve ‘Opaque, Ad Hoc’ Process for Reporting Civilian Casualties, New Report Says
President Barack Obama’s July 2016 Executive Order on Civilian Casualties has improved U.S. monitoring and reporting of civilian casualties caused by its airstrikes, but far…