Department of State
285 Articles
Pompeo’s Letter Is the Trump Administration’s Opening Salvo of Obstruction
The Trump administration now seems to be reverting to its previous strategy of total obstruction based on maximalist interpretations of executive authority.
What’s the New Terror Financing Executive Order All About?
Last week, the Trump administration updated E.O. 13224 to expand both State and Treasury’s ability to wield sanctions against terrorists. What are the practical implications…
Protections Fall for Vietnamese Immigrants as Trump Pushes Deportations
The Trump administration has reinterpreted a 2008 agreement with Vietnam in multiple ways to expand the categories of refugees it can deport. The effort appears to have affected…
The Missing State Department Memo on US Officials’ Possible Aiding and Abetting Saudi War Crimes
Today the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to consider dueling bills on Saudi Arabia. A bill sponsored by Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), would block arms sales to the…
Trump’s “Unalienable Rights” Commission Likely to Promote Anti-Rights Agenda
On Monday, we learned who would be serving on the State Department's new "Commission on Unalienable Rights." The track records of the chair and the other members raise even further…
Self-Defense in International Law: What Level of Evidence?
With the question of whether Iran's actions justify the use of force, the issue of evidence is once again at the forefront of international debate. So, how much evidence does a…
Marik String Appointment as State Department’s Top Lawyer Raises Questions
As a former senior State Department official put it, “The idea that someone so few years out of law school, and not even practicing law for all that time, is in the office occupied…
An “Emergency” Arms Deal: Will Congress Acquiesce in Another Blow to Its Authority?
If Congress can’t stand up to protect its own prerogatives on arms sales, then its chances of being heard on anything else will be permanently diminished.
EXCLUSIVE: Draft Charter of Pompeo’s “Commission on Unalienable Rights” Hides Anti-Human Rights Agenda
Just Security has obtained the draft Charter for the Commission. Professor Hamilton writes: If the Commission follows the ideological roots of the "natural law" theory it is grounded…
Cooking the WMD Books: Politicizing the 2019 State Department Compliance Report
"I know. I used to work in State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance and then in the Office of the Under Secretary responsible for this report.…
Secretary Pompeo: More Russia Sanctions Are Coming … Sometime
This article is cross-posted at Steptoe International Compliance Blog. On February 13, 2019, the State Department provided a summary of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent…
10 Ways the U.S. Can Curb Interpol Abuses
Interpol serves a good purpose, and it has good rules. But not all members are as good as its rules. The U.S. can take steps, on its own or with others, to limit abuses and shield…