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Attorney General William Barr (C) speaks during a press conference on the shooting at the Pensacola naval base January 13, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Criminalizing Foreign Relations: How the Biden Administration Can Prevent a Global Arrest Game

The U.S. President is undoubtedly the chief U.S. diplomat, but is he or she also the chief prosecutor? Donald Trump clearly thinks so, stating once his grave misunderstanding that…
U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden speaks during the White House Summit on the United State of Women June 14, 2016 in Washington, DC.

Reviving the US Commitment to Women’s Rights and Gender Equality: The UN Commission on the Status of Women

The Biden administration should use the March gathering to highlight policies or programs to advance gender equality at home and abroad.
US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens gives a speech on August 26, 2012 at the US embassy in Tripoli, in which he declared that the consular section will reopen on August 27.

The Need for More Chris Stevenses

It’s time to develop a risk management framework for the U.S.' civilian national security workforce to enable them to do their jobs despite the unprecedented risks they now face.
A policeman stops US Actress Mia Farrow and Theary Seng, head of the Centre for Social Development, as they attempt to enter the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum in Phnom Penh, 20 January 2008. They hold white flowers and people with cameras crowd around them.

Cambodian Rights Activist and 55 Others Face Trial as Crackdown on Dissent Intensifies

Given the control that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party wields over the judiciary, their odds of getting a fair trial are slim.
Egyptian members of the press sit outside the headquarters of the journalists syndicate in Cairo on January 25, 2009 with their cameras on the ground, in protest against police interference in their work. Many hold images of police brutality.

How to Fight Truth Decay: Protect the Truth Tellers

What better way of protecting the truth than by offering a safe haven for journalists who risk their lives to inform us.

How to Restore Ethics to the U.S. Department of State

The task demands accountability for the ethical scandals that have occurred at State during the Trump administration and a public commitment to rebuilding the infrastructure, including…
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. 23: Rebuild and Renew the Diplomatic Corps

Last in a series of top experts exploring proposals to restore and promote nonpartisan principles of good government, public integrity, and 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.
COP 23 United Nations Climate Conference In Bonn, Germany

Think Beyond the Beltway — Bring Mayors and Governors to the Foreign Policy Table

States, regions, and cities are already on the frontlines, as in the pandemic. The federal government should support these contacts for the global future.
Pompeo on a computer screen giving a press conference.

Estrangement Over Engagement: How the Trump Administration is Bucking Bipartisan Human Rights Diplomacy at the UN

The practice of the Trump administration turning its back on rights at the United Nations goes well beyond the Human Rights Council.
Kashmiri women journalists hold placards as they protest against the continued communication blockade by the Indian authorities after the revocation of special status of Kashmir on October 3, 2019 in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir, India. Signs read, “End communication blockade,” “End information clampdown,” “End communication blockade in Kashmir,” and “Communication blockade 60 days and counting…”

Amnesty International Calls for India to Lift Account Freeze to Resume Vital Human Rights Work

Senior US officials traveling to India this month should urge the immediate lifting of the account freeze and press India to guarantee rights of civil society organizations to…
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.
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