Swedish Chief of Defence General Micael Bydén with Chair of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer at Exercise Vigilant Knife. (NATO, https://flic.kr/p/2nJJF48; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/) Contrary to widespread belief, Sweden has not been neutral since at least its…
Category: Lawfare
Oral Argument Preview: United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi S.A. (Halkbank)
The U.S. Supreme Court (Sunira Moses, https://tinyurl.com/j7xajhuv; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en) On Jan.17, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi S.A. (Halkbank), a case that brings criminal charges against a Turkish bank for…
Who Are You Calling a Great Power?
President Joe Biden meets with other G7 leaders during a meeting at Schloss Elmau in Krün, Germany, on June 26, 2022. Photo credit: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz via Flickr/Public Domain. Editor’s Note: The United States is in…
Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, Part 2: What to Do If the FSIA Does Not Apply?
United States Supreme Court Building in Washington D.C. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Supreme_Court_of_the_U.S._Building.jpg, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) This is the second of two articles analyzing the pending Supreme Court case, Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, which is being argued on January 17.…
Could Beijing Risk a Diversionary War Against Taiwan?
Seaman Xi Chan stands lookout as the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry transits the Taiwan Strait. (U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Samuel Hardgrove, https://flic.kr/p/2iTV5BF; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) China’s deteriorating strategic situation and President Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power appears to…
Unpacking the Biden Special Counsel Announcement
Robert K. Hur (Patrick Siebert, https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdgovpics/51173603522/in/photostream/; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Attorney General Merrick Garland had no choice but to appoint a special counsel to handle whatever criminal matters may arise out of the presence of classified information in locations associated…
On Protecting the Undersea Cable System
Seabees remove corroded zinc anodes from an undersea cable. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnavy/28073762161) Cables the size of a garden hose crisscross the oceans. Unlike your hose at home, these cables require all the protection afforded to other pieces of critical infrastructure, like the…
The EU’s AI Act Is Barreling Toward AI Standards That Do Not Exist
(Jai79, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:European_Commission_in_Brussels.jpg; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en) Efforts to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) must aim to balance protecting the health, safety, and fundamental rights of individuals while reaping the benefits of innovation. These regulations will protect people from physical harms (like AI…
Can You Spot the Difference Between Jan. 6 and Jan. 8?
Former President Jair Bolsonaro (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jair_Bolsonaro_paz_e_amor.jpg) Anyone watching Sunday’s failed coup attempt in Brazil’s capital city of Brasília would be forgiven for feeling a bit of déjà vu. Just two days after television networks aired scenes of rioters storming the U.S.…
Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, Part 1: The FSIA and Criminal Prosecutions
U.S. Supreme Court Building (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panorama_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_Building_at_Dusk.jpg) On Jan. 17, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, a case that raises the question whether the U.S. government can criminally prosecute corporations owned by foreign…
Proud Boys Trial Diary
Among the more than 940 federal criminal prosecutions arising from the Jan. 6 insurrection to date, the seditious conspiracy trial of five top members of the Proud Boys organization could well be the most important and informative of all. Accordingly, I…
Gentlemen’s Rules for Reading Each Other’s Mail: The New OECD Principles on Government Access to Personal Data Held by Private Sector Entities
OECD Conference Centre main entrance. Paris, France. (OECD/Michael Dean, https://flic.kr/p/9Yiczj; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/) In 1928, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Stimson famously shut down an intelligence program that deciphered encrypted international cables, indignantly proclaiming that “a gentleman doesn’t read…
Was the Iraq War a Foreseeable Blunder?
President George W. Bush. (Official U.S. Government photo by Eric Draper/The U.S. National Archives) A review of Melvyn P. Leffler, “Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq” (Oxford University Press, 2023) *** Why did the United…
International Law of the Sea Meets Israeli Constitutional Law: The New Israeli-Lebanese Maritime Border Agreement
Inside the Supreme Court of Israel, Jerusalem. (Source: Anthony Baratier, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons) On Dec. 13, 2022, the Israeli Supreme Court published a 51-page judgment in Kohelet Forum v. Prime Minister, providing reasons for its Oct.…
One Small Legislative Step for Cybersecurity
Department of Health & Human Services, Washington, D.C. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Department_of_Health_%26_Human_Services_-_Sarah_Stierch.jpg) The massive appropriations bill signed by President Biden on Dec. 29, 2022, included, among other riders, language requiring the makers of internet-connected medical devices to reasonably ensure that such devices and…
The Cyber Liability Fight Begins
Colonial Pipeline Gas Terminal (https://www.flickr.com/photos/orbitaljoe/16538597) Third-party liability for cybersecurity failures just got a lot more real. For years, observers of cybersecurity practices have noted a systematic underinvestment in cybersecurity by various enterprises. Critical to explaining that gap was the twofold…
The Lawfare Podcast: A January 6 Anniversary
It’s January 6—the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection. There has been a lot of activity in those two years to account for what happened on that terrible day. To go over it all, Lawfare editor in chief Benjamin Wittes sat…
Hundreds of Scandalous Videos, Shocking Interviews, and Hot Documents!
The Jan. 6 Committee. (Official U.S. government photo by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol) Now that we’ve got your attention… After nearly 18 months of hearings and investigations, the House Select…
Wargames Can’t Tell Us How to Deter a Chinese Attack on Taiwan—But Different Games Might
A reconstruction of a Prussian military wargame (kriegsspie). (Matthew Kirschenbaum, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kriegsspiel_1824.jpg; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) Wargames that simulate combat between the United States and China near Taiwan can provide useful insight about potential military challenges. However, analysts should be wary…
CIA, Congress, and the Art of Listening with Abigail Spanberger
Abigail Spanberger, who represents Virginia’s 7th congressional district in the House of Representatives, is one of the few members of Congress to have served as an operations officer at the Central Intelligence Agency. She also worked in law enforcement as…
The Aftermath, Episode 5: Who Tells Your Story?
We’re pleased to bring you a new episode of The Aftermath, our narrative podcast series on the search for accountability in response to the Jan. 6 insurrection: This episode—our fifth—explores another aspect of Congress’s response to Jan. 6: efforts to…
“No Ordinary Pakistani”: The Intertwined Stories of Saifullah and Uzair Paracha
A watchtower at the famous Guantanamo Bay prison camp, at dusk, January 2011. (Source: Gino Reyes, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) Bald, bespectacled, and bearded—the image of a beaming Saifullah Paracha sitting at a table at McDonald’s in Karachi, Pakistan,…
How to End Wars: Lawyering Peace in a Changing World
British Vickers machine gun crew during the Battle of Menin Road Ridge, World War I (Ypres Salient, West Flanders, Belgium). (Source: Ernest Brooks, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.) A review of Paul Williams, “Lawyering Peace” (Cambridge University Press, 2021) ***…
In Addressing Russia’s Attacks on Zaporizhzhia, Look to Africa
The IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya arrives at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine. (IAEA, https://www.flickr.com/photos/35068899@N03/52329096480/; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are shocking and dangerous. Since March, Russia has seized…
A French Perspective on Elon Musk’s Twitter
Elon Musk (https://csmapnyu.org/news-views/news/how-to-evaluate-elon-musk-s-potential-impact-on-twitter) A lot has happened since Elon Musk made a sensational entrance in Twitter headquarters by carrying a sink. As soon as Musk took control of Twitter on Oct. 28, he fired a large part of the compa…
New Data Quantifies Ransomware Attacks on Healthcare Providers
CommonSpirit Health (Photo Credit: CommonSpirit Health) On a Sunday in early October, CommonSpirit Health, the second-largest hospital chain in the U.S., detected unusual activity on its network. What turned out to be a ransomware attack forced many of CommonSpirit’s more-than…
The Year That Was (2022)
As December draws to a close, we’ve reached the requisite moment to reflect on what happened in 2022. And although it may be cliche to say so, the answer from us at Lawfare is . . . well, a lot.…
Five Ways to Help the Venezuelan People and Stem the Flow of Migrants
Nicolás Maduro (https://www.flickr.com/photos/eneas/32265542025) On Nov. 17, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before Congress that his department would seek new ways to expel Venezuelan migrants in the wake of a federal court’s decision to strike down […]Content was cut in…
New Bill Proposes Banning TikTok in the U.S.
Tiktok by Solen Feyissa (https://www.flickr.com/photos/solen-feyissa/50179261657) The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which screens foreign investments in the U.S. for national security risks, is by multiple accounts in conversation with the social […]Content was cut in order…
FISA Section 702 (2008-2023?)
Albert V Bryan Federal District Courthouse – Alexandria Va (https://www.flickr.com/photos/23165290@N00/6830726846/) More than 200,000 foreign targets a year. “Irreplaceable” insight. The National Security Agency’s “
The Jan. 6 Report: A Summary with Some Analysis
The Jan. 6 Committee (https://twitter.com/January6thCmte/status/1546882335559323649) ‘Twas three nights before Christmas And all through the House, Not a creature was stirring Except the staff of the Jan. 6 Committee, which was frantically trying to release their final report and many hundreds…
Congress Mandates Sweeping Transparency Reforms for International Agreements
US Congress on Capitol Hill, Washington DC (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Congress_02.jpg) Editor’s Note: This post also appears on Just Security. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA), which Congress passed on Dec.15 and President Joe Biden signed today, contains sweeping new…
Inspector General Reform in the NDAA
The United States Capitol building (Photo by Architect of the Capitol, https://flic.kr/p/LyE13F; Official United States Government Work, https://www.usa.gov/government-works) The National Defense Authorization Act, which President Biden signed into law today, contains important reforms to protect inspectors general from opportunistic removal…
Disagreement Between the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II and the Office of the Prosecutor Regarding the Afghanistan Situation
The International Criminal Court, The Hague (Photo by Vysotsky, bit.ly/3WCOzyV; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a two-part series that explores the recent disagreement at the International Criminal Court pertaining to the Afghanistan situation.…
Jan. 6 Committee Issues Final Report
On Dec. 22, the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the United States Capitol released its final report. The release of the 845-page report follows nearly 18 months of hearings and investigations by the committee and…
House Democrats’ Report on Trump Taxes Highlights IRS’s Failures—and Their Own
The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tim Evanson, https://flic.kr/p/bavnsK; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) The House Ways and Means Committee released its much-anticipated report on the Internal Revenue Service’s handling of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns…
House Democrats’ Report on Trump Taxes Highlights IRS’s Failures—and Their Own
The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tim Evanson, https://flic.kr/p/bavnsK; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) The House Ways and Means Committee released its much-anticipated report on the Internal Revenue Service’s handling of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns…
The AI “Revolution in Military Affairs”: What Would it Really Look Like?
The Pentagon (Photo by MASTER Sgt. Ken Hammond, bit.ly/3YlMsBf; Official United States Government Work, https://www.usa.gov/government-works) To some defense professionals and officials, the phrase “revolutions in military affairs” may seemingly belong in the 1990s, along with talk about how reconnaissance-strike and…
The Dangerous Omission in the Jan. 6 Committee’s Report Summary
FBI Director Christopher Wray (https://www.flickr.com/photos/fbi/37264339494) The Jan. 6 committee’s work investigating the Capitol insurrection has been incredibly impressive. Investigators have uncovered new and damning information about Donald Trump’s culpability in the violence of Jan. 6; they’ve reinvented the congressional hearing…
When Reading the Jan. 6 Committee’s Summary, Don’t Skip the Notes!
The Jan. 6 Committee (https://twitter.com/January6thCmte/status/1604875420599570432/photo/1) The most important feature of the 154 pages of “Introductory Material to the Final Report of the Select Committee” is not the much-discussed criminal referrals of Donald Trump and others. The criminal referrals—released Monday by…
The Dangerous Omission in the Jan. 6 Committee’s Report Summary
FBI Director Christopher Wray (https://www.flickr.com/photos/fbi/37264339494) The Jan. 6 committee’s work investigating the Capitol insurrection has been incredibly impressive. Investigators have uncovered new and damning information about Donald Trump’s culpability in the violence of Jan. 6; they’ve reinvented the congressional hearing…
The D.C. Circuit Holds the Power to Upend Hundreds of Prosecutions of Jan. 6 Rioters
Crowd of Trump supporters marching on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, ultimately leading the building being breached and several deaths. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DC_Capitol_Storming_IMG_7965.jpg) It’s the morning of Dec. 12, and Courtroom 31 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…
Reflections on Three Decades of U.S. Efforts to Resolve the Lockerbie Bombing
Pan Am Flight 103, Dec. 21,1988. Lockerbie bombing Boeing 747–121 (U.K. Air Accident Investigation Branch, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_Am_Flight_103._Crashed_Lockerbie,_Scotland,_21_December_1988.jpg, U.K. Open Government Licence 2.0) On Dec. 11, the Department of Justice announced that it had taken custody of a Libyan man, Abu Agila…
Who Really Benefits From Banning White Supremacist Groups?
German police watch a demonstration against nuclear waste disposal in Wendland, Germany, on November 24, 2011. Photo credit: Montecruz Foto via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Editor’s Note: As the United States and other countries consider more bans on right-wing terrorist…
The FBI’s 2021 Hate Crime Data Is Worse Than Meaningless
An FBI public service announcement on a Muni train in San Francisco, pictured on May 6, 2021, encourages residents to report hate crimes. Photo credit: FBI.gov Editor’s Note: To understand the state of extremism and the risk to various minority…
A.I. Programs Write for Lawfare on Judge Cannon’s Ruling in the Mar-A-Lago Case
Generated using Dall-E 2; text used: “futuristic cyborg (statue of (lady justice with sword and scales)) at mar-a-lago.” Here at Lawfare, we have been getting quite a lot of advertisements for artificial intelligence (A.I.) programs that can write for us,…
The Chatter Podcast: Reassessing Reagan’s Foreign Policy with Will Inboden
Ronald Reagan stands among the most consequential national security presidents in United States history, not least of which because his policies helped to end the Cold War without a direct war between the superpowers. Reagan’s vision for ending the Cold…
Unpacking The 2020 Portland Chaos
Former Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf (Official United States Government photo, https://flic.kr/p/2k3J8BZ; Official United States Government Work, https://www.usa.gov/government-works) In October 2022, an unredacted version of a redacted 2021 report sponsored by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Secretary…
Deferral and De Facto Authorities: The ICC Prosecutor’s Assessment of Afghanistan’s Deferral Request
The International Criminal Court in the Hague (Photo by Oseveno, https://bit.ly/3TavUt6; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a two-part series that sets the scene for the recent disagreement at the International Criminal Court pertaining…
The Case for War Torts—for Ukraine and Beyond
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on a visit to the previously Russian occupied city of Bucha (Official Ukrainian Government work, https://flic.kr/p/2ncUhLk; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) In May 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Ukraine’s intention “to ensure that Russia compensates in one way or…
What Comes After the Loss and Damage Fund for Responsibility and Repair in a Climate-Disrupted World?
Protesters in Berlin during COP27 with a banner reading "Raise Your Ambition Not The Sea Level #LOSS&DAMAGEFINANCENOW" (Photo by Leonhard Lenz, bit.ly/3HzFbYO; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en) Climate-driven geophysical shifts are driving geopolitical shifts that are putting increasing pressure on international law…
The U.N. Security Council Adopts a Standing Humanitarian “Carve-Out”
The United Nations Security Council Chamber (Photo by MusikAnimal, bit.ly/3hkYNVQ; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) On Dec. 9, the U.N. Security Council adopted a standing humanitarian “carve-out” to nearly all of its asset freezes. (The remaining asset-freeze regime, as we explain…
The Right Time For Chip Export Controls
A blue circuit board (Photo by Yuri Samoilov, bit.ly/3Btj02q; CC BY 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en) On Oct. 7, the U.S.-China tech competition heated up dramatically when the Biden administration imposed wide-ranging semiconductor-related export controls on China. While there has been plenty of…
The U.N. Security Council Adopts a Standing Humanitarian “Carve-out”
The United Nations Security Council Chamber (Photo by MusikAnimal, bit.ly/3hkYNVQ; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) On Dec. 9, the United Nations Security Council adopted a standing humanitarian “carve-out” to nearly all of its asset freezes. (The remaining asset-freeze regime, as we…
A Foiled Coup Attempt in Germany and the Danger of Conspiracy Theories
The German Parliament building, also known as the Bundestag (Photo by Stefan Woidig, https://flic.kr/p/MnHDcm; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) On Dec. 7, news broke that the German police had uncovered and foiled an alleged coup attempt aimed at storming the German Bundestag…
A Foiled Coup Attempt In Germany and the Danger Of Conspiracy Theories
The German Parliament building, also known as the Bundestag (Photo by Stefan Woidig, https://flic.kr/p/MnHDcm; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) On Dec. 7, news broke that the German police had uncovered and foiled an alleged coup attempt aimed at storming the German Bundestag…
Section 308’s Overbroad Restrictions on Post-Intelligence Community Jobs
The original headquarters building of the Central Intelligence Agency (Official United States Government photo, https://flic.kr/p/9fxzoc; https://www.usa.gov/government-works) With little fanfare, Congress has adopted a potentially sweeping restriction on the jobs that members of the intelligence community can take when they head…
Oath Keepers Leaders Were Found Guilty, but the Threat of Antigovernment Extremism Remains
Far-right extremists mass at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo credit: Brett Davis via Flickr; CC BY_NC 2.0. Editor’s Note: With Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes convicted of seditious conspiracy, the group he founded is at a crossroads.…
Extreme Facts Make Easy Law: D.C. Circuit Appears Ready to Issue a Narrow Ruling Against Civil Immunity for Donald Trump
A still of the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol (Photo by Tyler Merbler, bit.ly/3FBQs9j; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en) Lawyers pleading their client’s cases are often tempted to argue narrowly, focusing the court’s attention on the unique facts that go…
Accountability at the U.S.-Africa Summit
The first session of the 2014 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit (Official United States government work, https://flic.kr/p/oBwXGg; https://www.usa.gov/government-works) Next week, the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit will be held eight years after the first U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit was held in Washington D.C. in August…
The Chatter Podcast: Visualizing Vladimir Putin with Andrew Weiss
Longtime Russia watcher Andrew Weiss took an unconventional approach to his new biography, Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin. Teaming up with illustrator Box Brown, Weiss wrote a graphic novel that tells the story of Putin’s rise…
There Are Many Ways the Justice Department Could Charge the Mar-a-Lago Case in D.C. But Should It?
Marine One leaving Mar-a-Lago, former President Trump's Florida residence (Official White House Photo by Joyce Boghosian, https://flic.kr/p/24Mad5t; https://www.usa.gov/government-works) In their article “Where’s the Venue: The Risks of Charging the Mar-a-Lago Case in D.C.,” Brandon L. Van Grack and Jacqueline Chervak…
A Crucial Appeal for Capitol Riot Prosecutions: D.C. Circuit to Hear Arguments Challenging the Felony Charge Used in 290 Cases
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid, bit.ly/3uAygH3; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en) On Dec. 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear arguments in a case that…
A More Independent Special Counsel
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building (Photo by VOA, http://gdb.voanews.com/05641786-AD10-4365-B9A5-5B64EA68F159.jpg; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) Attorney General Merrick Garland, citing “extraordinary circumstances,” recently appointed a special counsel to investigat […]Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the…
Content Moderation Sacrificed in Left-Right Deals on Tech Reform
The United States Capitol building (Official United States Government photo by the Architect of the Capitol, https://flic.kr/p/aSmTY8; Official U.S. government works, https://www.usa.gov/government-works) With the clock ticking on the postelection lame-duck session of Congress, tech reformers are pushing for votes on…
Solar Geoengineering: The Case for Research Part II
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part series on the case for researching the taboo concept of solar geoengineering as a potential bridge to achieving net zero emissions. Part one summarizes some concerns raised about solar engineering. This…
Oral Argument Preview: Blassingame v. Trump
2021 storming of the United States Capitol (https://www.flickr.com/photos/37527185@N05/50812356151/) Tomorrow morning, Dec. 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments on whether former President Donald Trump should receive official acts immunity for his…
Human Security and Changing Threats: NATO’s Policies for 2022 and Beyond
NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. (Source: NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization, https://www.flickr.com/photos/nato/27029507408, CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Although Polish President Andrzej Duda confirmed that the missile that killed two Polish citizens inside the country’s borders in November was an accidental result…
Charting a Path Forward for Afghanistan
A young girl on a rooftop in Herat, Afghanistan. (U.N. Photo/Eric Kanalstein, https://flic.kr/p/dZD7P5; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/) Over the past year and a half of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, the impasse in engagement between the Taliban and the international community…
Did al-Qaeda Die With Ayman al-Zawahiri?
Ayman al-Zawahiri appears in an al-Qaeda video released in April 2022. Photo credit: Al-Qaeda media. Editor’s Note: The killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in July raised the obvious question of who would succeed him—and many months later, we still…
Winter 2022 Supplement for ‘Bradley, Deeks, & Goldsmith, Foreign Relations Law: Cases and Materials’ (7th ed. 2020)
Here is the Winter 2022 Supplement for Bradley, Deeks, & Goldsmith, Foreign Relations Law: Cases and Materials (7th ed. 2020). These materials cover, among other things, foreign relations law issues implicated by the U.S. actions taken in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine;…
House Democrats Can Release Trump’s Tax Returns. But Should They?
A January 2020 meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee (Official United States Government photo, bit.ly/3itFCJI; https://www.usa.gov/government-works) Now that a House committee has obtained access to six years of former President Trump’s tax returns, congressional Democrats face an easy…
The Benefits and Risks of Extending Weapons Deliveries to the Cyber Domain
The NATO headquarters building (U.S. Navy Photo by MC Specialist Seaman Alora R. Blosch, https://flic.kr/p/woK17G; Official U.S. Government works, https://www.usa.gov/government-works) In September, NATO members met to coordinate weapons supplies being sent to Ukraine, identify gaps in weapons stockpiles, and coordinate…
Private-Sector Cyber Defense in Armed Conflict
A U.S. Air Force network administrator working on a network control center (Official United States government work by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jerome Duhan, https://flic.kr/p/jD9Atv) Just hours before the first group of Russian tanks crossed into Ukraine in February…
Five Stray Thoughts on the Oath Keepers Verdict
The U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection (Photo by Tyler Merbler, https://flic.kr/p/2kqQwBP; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) I already offered my account of the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence in the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy prosecution on Monday morning.…
Introducing the Lawfare Crossword Puzzle (and Contest)
In a Lawfare debut, we are posting this national security-related crossword puzzle by Brad Weigmann for our readers’ bewilderment. After solving the puzzle, try your hand at finding a bonus answer, which should be a breeze for at least a portion of the intelligence community.…
The mBridge to Somewhere: Central Banking Is Having Its Sputnik Moment
The Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Richard Bett, https://flic.kr/p/2nxNf85; CC0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/) Last month, an international institution that is barely known outside central banker circles released a report that should concern all U.S. policymakers seeking to preserve U.S.…
Is the DSA a New Dawn of Legislating Platform Governance Globally?
A gathering of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France (Official French Government Photo, https://flic.kr/p/2mY94zE; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) The newly passed Digital Services Act (DSA) in the European Union is what some may call Rorschach legislation or, depending on your point…
To Designate or Not? Russia and SST Status
The city of Bucha, previously occupied by Russian forces (Official Ukrainian Government Photo, https://flic.kr/p/2nd1Vjf; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) As Ukraine implores the world to condemn Russia to pariah status, a live question is whether the United States should designate Russia as…
How the 2002 Iraq AUMF Got to Be So Dangerous, Part 2: Interpretation and Implications
American soldier during firefight in Adhamiyah, Baghdad (Operation Phantom Thunder). (Source: US. Army photo by Sgt. Michael Pryor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.) This is the second in a two-part series…
Seditious Kvetching: The Surprisingly Non-Trivial Defense in the Oath Keepers Prosecution
Elmer Stewart Rhodes (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/elmer-stewart-rhodes) In the early morning hours of Nov. 4, 2020, as the returns from the previous day’s election presaged that future President Joe Biden had unseated then-President Donald Trump, a member of the Oath Keepers, the far-right…
Militant Democracy Stages a Comeback in Brazil
The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court building (Photo by Alex Pereira, bit.ly/3U2S3ZO; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) We haven’t seen a Latin American judiciary move aggressively against an authoritarian attempt on democracy since Colombia did so in 2010. But in the leadup to…
What’s in the Commerce Department’s Recent Export Controls on Technology Bound for China?
A scientist making a high voltage power-switching device. (UC Davis College of Engineering; https://flic.kr/p/JM9TR9; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) On Oct.7, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a new slate of
Trump Has a Bad Day at the Eleventh Circuit
Former President Trump speaking at a rally in Nevada. (Gage Skidmore, https://flic.kr/p/E1FHR3; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) It is 2:03 p.m. at the Elbert P. Tuttle Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, and it’s time for a rematch between Donald Trump and Department…
The Unholy Trinity of Corruption, Low Morale, and Military Failure
Russian vehicles in Bosnia during Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR (U.S. Defense Department photo by Teresa H. Hawkins, bit.ly/3i5UOMP; Official U.S. Government Work) The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war provide even more evidence of an army steadily losing ground…
Composite Violent Extremism: A Radicalization Pattern Changing the Face of Terrorism
A member of the "Proud Boys," a white nationalist group, at a "Stop the Steal" rally in 2020 (Photo by Chad Davis, https://flic.kr/p/2k6Eg1A; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) Before opening fire in a Bend, Oregon, grocery store in August 2022, Ethan…
We Live in an Age of Futile Impeachments
The east front of the United States Capitol building (Official Architect of the Capitol photo, https://flic.kr/p/2mQRkAK; United States Government Work) During the Republic’s first 41 presidencies (Washington through Bush I), there were only two presidential impeachment episodes, both of them…
Programmable Biology Puts Biotech on the Geopolitical Agenda
Cross section of plant cells (Photo by Berkshire Community College Bioscience Image Lab, https://flic.kr/p/VW874z; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) In September, Jake Sullivan—President Biden’s national security adviser—announced that the U.S. government expects biotechnology to play an “outsized importance over the coming decade”…
Democracies Must Empower a Biotech Future for All
President Biden visits researchers at the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, on Feb. 11, 2021. Photo credit: NIH/Chiachi Chang, Public Domain. Editor’s Note: Although the science of biotechnology is moving forward at breakneck…
Flynn Must Fly to Fulton
Retired U.S. Army lieutenant general Michael Flynn at a campaign rally for Donald Trump at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michael_Flynn_(30020745053).jpg) Editor’s note: The following is a dispatch from Nov. 15, the latest episode in our series on…
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Special Counsel Jack Smith (https://www.scp-ks.org/en/spo/specialist-prosecutor) Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision, announced this afternoon, to appoint a special counsel to take over two investigations involving former President Donald Trump must have been a painful one for the attorney general. It means…
Can Oblique Intent Trigger an Armed Attack and Activate Article 5 of NATO?
Polish/NATO troops in a tank. (Official photo by SHAPE NATO; https://www.flickr.com/photos/shapenato/19309784789) The recent fall of a missile in Polish territory killed two people and caused initial discussions about whether the incident was the result of a Russian attack on Ukraine…
Disrupting Violent Extremists’ ‘Free Spaces,’ Online and Off
Members of the New Mexico Civil Guard's "Curry Company" pose for a photo that was posted to Facebook. Photo credit: Facebook via Eastern New Mexico News. Editor’s Note: Domestic extremism today involves the mixing of many elements, making counterterrorism far…
Summarizing the 2022 National Defense Strategy
The U.S. Department of Defense building, also known as The Pentagon (Photo by Master Sgt. Ken Hammond, bit.ly/3Gq1NKB; Official United States Government Work) On Oct. 27, the Department of Defense unveiled the unclassified version of the 2022 National Defense Strategy…
Keeping Up With Ransomware
Picture of a lock with circuit board pattern overlaid (Mark Fernandes, http://bit.ly/3EhdTTI; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) Earlier this month, the White House hosted the second meeting of the International Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI). One of many initiatives on cybersecurity advanced by…
What If the Przewodów Tragedy Had Been Caused by a Russian Missile?
Andrzej Duda, President of Poland (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nato/26764349093) The missile that landed in the Polish town of Przewodów yesterday and killed two civilians turns out not to have been a Russian attack. This morning, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that the…
Democracy After the Midterms
Voters in Des Moines during the 2022 midterm elections. (Phil Roeder, https://bit.ly/3UFYnHP; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) On Nov. 15, Donald Trump announced his third campaign for president of the United States. Over the course of a listless, rambling speech, he…
Cyber Norms in the Context of Armed Conflict
A man with his face obscured sits in front of a computer with code behind him (Photo by B_A, bit.ly/3hKfKJ8; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) In “‘Patriotic Hacking’ Is No Exception,” Jay Healey and Olivia Grinberg discussed Ukrainian government officials’ public outreach…
How the 2002 Iraq AUMF Got to Be So Dangerous, Part 1: History and Practice
U.S. Army paratroopers prepare to board planes as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Tech. Sgt. Stephen Faulisi, U.S. Air Force, bit.ly/3O6moFI; United States Government Work, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) This is the first in a two-part series on the history and interpretation of…
Can China Escape the Innovation Trap?
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at COP21 (Photo by COP PARIS, bit.ly/3O9MDLh; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) For most foreign observers, the biggest takeaway from China’s recently completed 20th Party Congress is likely that Chinese Preside […]Content was cut in order to…