Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks with media members on the USS Nimitz, Feb. 25, 2021. (DoD Photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders) Human rights advocates and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have called on the Pentagon…
Category: Lawfare
Politics and Prosecutorial Discretion in the Trump Case
Metal door entrance to Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building – taken in April 2007 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_F._Kennedy_Department_of_Justice_Building_-_large_entrance_doors_-_2721.jpg) In the wake of the Mar-a-Lago search, thoughtful commentators, notably Ross Douthat and Damon Linker
Evaluating the Jan. 6 Committee’s Evidence
Editor’s Note: This resource offers a detailed summary of the evidence presented by the Jan. 6 Select Committee in its spree of hearings in the summer of 2022. It also evaluates the persuasiveness of the evidence concerning seven distinct points…
Cutting Off Financing for the Next Capitol Insurrection
A protester wearing Proud Boy and Three Percenter insignia walks outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo credit: Elvert Barnes via Flickr; CC BY-SA 2.0. Editor’s Note: Political violence is often expensive: Beyond the cost of weapons, people…
What Did We Learn from the Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant Affidavit?
Former President Trump lands at Mar-a-Lago on Marine One in March 2019. (White House) More than two weeks have passed since the FBI searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and removed an array of classified documents and presidential records…
The FTC Ups the Ante for Federal Privacy Legislation
"One is Man Controlling Trade," 1942 statue by Michael Lantz, at Federal Trade Commission (https://picryl.com/media/one-is-man-controlling-trade-1942-statue-by-michael-lantz-at-federal-trade) The Federal Trade Commission’s ambitious and diffuse advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on “commercial surveillance and data security” comes against the backdrop of progress…
Call for Nominations: 2022 Mike Lewis Prize for National Security Law Scholarship
The Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin and Ohio Northern University’s Pettit College of Law (ONU), in consultation with the
It Is the Player, but Mostly the Game
Person holding a machine gun (Somchai Kongkomsri, https://tinyurl.com/yh35b8m9; Pexels free to use). Earlier this summer, the United States offered to free convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for Moscow’s release of two American nationals: Women’s National Basketball Association…
The Chatter Podcast: The Moon, Mars, and National Security with Fraser Cain
NASA next week plans to launch the first of several Artemis missions, which collectively aim to land astronauts on the Moon again for the first time in more than half a century, explore the lunar surface more extensively, and establish…
Stay Calm and Proceed With Caution: The Merari Report on Israeli Police’s Pegasus Scandal
An Israel National Police Officer outside Lahav 433, the investigative arm of the department, in Tel Aviv (Federal Bureau of Investigation, https://flic.kr/p/TQJBkw). On Aug. 1, the Israeli Ministry of Justice published a report written by an official inquiry team appointed…
Should Uncle Sam Worry About ‘Foreign’ Open-Source Software? Geographic Known Unknowns and Open-Source Software Security
Open-source software graphic (Jackie Aim, https://flic.kr/p/W7WfuP; CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Nationalism has come to software. While downloading TikTok or WeChat onto your cell phone isn’t quite tantamount to installing Huawei equipment in your local cell tower, all indications suggest that…
The Presidential Records Act and the Mar-a-Lago Documents
United States National Archives building (David Samuel, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_National_Archives_Building.jpg; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en). Below are some reactions to two arguments made under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) in connection with presidential records recovered at Mar-a-Lago. The first has to do with…
#LiveFromUkraine: Oleksandra Povoroznik Talks Language Politics and Wartime Culture
Oleksandra Povoroznik (@rynkrynk) is a Kyiv-based journalist, film critic and translator, who joins us to discuss the changing politics of language in Ukraine, as well as the country’s defiant wartime culture and humor. She sat down with Benjamin Wittes on #LiveFromUkraine to…
The Dangers of Expansive Public Health Surveillance
German coronavirus contact tracing app (Marco Verch, https://flic.kr/p/2jcjxmf; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). A review of David Lyon, “Pandemic Surveillance” (polity, 2022). *** For much of the general public, the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic, although exceptional and a…
Preemption of State Cybersecurity Laws: It’s Complicated
iPhone data security lock (Book Catalog, https://flic.kr/p/25Q49f9; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). The privacy bill awaiting consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives is indeed, as
Escape From D.C.: Analyzing Jan. 6 Venue Transfer Motions
Members of the Proud Boys at the second Million MAGA March in Washington, DC in December, 2020 (Geoff Livingston, https://flic.kr/p/2kChnQg; CC BY-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/). Five leaders of the Oath Keepers paramilitary organization are set to go to trial in late…
Immigration Enforcement Priorities and Presidential Duty
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service building (Gulbenk, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Citizenship_and_Immigration_Service.jpg; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en). The Supreme Court will consider a challenge to immigration enforcement priorities this December in a case with significant implications for everyday immigration policing. The case arises from the…
Escape from D.C.: Analyzing Jan. 6 Venue Transfer Motions
Members of the Proud Boys at the second Million MAGA March in Washington, DC in December, 2020 (Geoff Livingston, https://flic.kr/p/2kChnQg; CC BY-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/). Five leaders of the Oath Keepers paramilitary organization are set to go to trial in late…
“She’s Sitting There With Rudy Giuliani”: Fulton County Comes to Colorado
Jenna Ellis speaking at the 2021 Young Women's Leadership Summit hosted by Turning Point USA (Gage Skidmore, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jenna_Ellis_(51249358437).jpg; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en). Editor’s note: the following is a dispatch from Aug. 16, the latest episode in our series on the…
How Has Sri Lanka’s Crisis Impacted Indian Ocean Security?
Anti-government protests in Sri Lanka on April 13, 2022 (AntanO, https://tinyurl.com/muw2z4yj; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en). Sri Lanka’s economy has collapsed, and the country is seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Its top
“She’s sitting there with Rudy Giuliani”: Fulton County Comes to Colorado
Jenna Ellis speaking at the 2021 Young Women's Leadership Summit hosted by Turning Point USA (Gage Skidmore, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jenna_Ellis_(51249358437).jpg; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en). Editor’s note: the following is a dispatch from Aug. 16, the latest episode in our series on the…
Airstrikes, Civilian Casualties, and the Role of JAGs in the Targeting Process
Judge advocate general ceremony (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Nathan Laird, https://picryl.com/media/judge-advocate-general-jag-nanette-derenzi-conducts-an-inspection-of-the-honor-66acb6). The commander is pacing the floor of the operations center. Her ops team has been tracking a group of terrorists for several days, but…
The Gender Pay Gap Is a National Security Threat
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner during a WNBA game against the Minnesota Lynx at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN, on July 14, 2019. Photo credit: Lorie Shaull/Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0. Editor’s Note: Russia’s judicial kidnapping and sham trial…
A Duty to Disobey?
Gen. Mark Miley (Department of Defense photo by Lisa Ferdinando, https://flic.kr/p/2mhQ1fq). Among the many revelations in Susan Glasser and Peter Baker’s recent article in the New Yorker about the last days of Trump’s presidency was that Gen. Mark Milley, the…
OFAC Around and Find Out
Bitcoin cryptocurrency (Jonathan Cutrer, https://flic.kr/p/2kUb9hF; CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/). The cryptocurrency space has long hoped to emulate the business model of Uber: ignore the regulations until you can grow too big to regulate, a technique called “regulatory escape velocity.” With…
The Classification Status of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Documents
Gate at Mar-a-Lago (tommietheturtle, https://tinyurl.com/23wdukzj; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en). In the wake of the execution of the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, two issues that have received attention are the scope of a president’s declassification authority and the relevance of the…
The Chatter Podcast: Gone with the Wind, Hitler, and America First with Sarah Churchwell
Gone with the Wind–the top-grossing movie of all time, adjusted for inflation–remains an iconic influence in American culture, despite its deeply troubling portrayal of social and political dynamics in the South during and after the Civil War. The continued popularity…
Can Trump just declare nuclear secrets unclassified?
Former President Donald Trump speaking at CPAC (Gage Skidmore, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donald_Trump_(5440995138).jpg; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en). One of the apparent defenses offered up by former President Trump’s lawyers to the discovery of highly-classified materials at Mar-a-Lago is that Trump had a “standing…
Donald Trump and the Espionage Act
Marine One lifts-off at Mar-a-Lago (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian, https://flic.kr/p/TftGj9). It isn’t often that the 1917 Espionage Act is front page news, but the century-old law is having a moment in the spotlight. On Aug. 12,…
The Unlawful U.S. Killing of Ayman al-Zawahri
The recent killing of the most senior al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan is another triumph of American exceptionalism over international law. U.S. President Joe Biden boasted that “justice” has been “delivered,” but offered no explicit legal justification for the death of…
Prosecuting Trump: A Reply to Josh Marshall
Donald Trump leaves Mar-a-Lago aboard Marine One on Feb. 18, 2019. (White House) Josh Marshall has a thoughtful response to my August 14 piece
How Unmoderated Platforms Became the Frontline for Russian Propaganda
Social media applications on a phone (Jason Howie, https://flic.kr/p/e5wZ3t; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). The Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the evolving complexities of platform governance challenges in an increasingly decentralized information environment. Russia’s war in Ukraine has killed, injured,…
Does it Matter What (if Anything) Trump Declassified?
Mar-A-Lago Aerial (https://www.flickr.com/photos/formulanone/51558036591/) Last week’s revelation that the FBI searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and removed an array of classified documents has triggered new speculation that Trump or some of his associates may soon face criminal charges. The…
Contending With IRGC Plots
Parade of IRGC tank transporters (Mohammad Sadegh Heydari, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parade_of_IRGC_tank_transporters.jpg; CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en). This week, the U.S. Department of Justice charged an Iranian national based in Tehran, Shahram Poursafi, with plotting to kill former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton.…
Court Denies Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Motion to Quash Subpoena
On Aug. 15, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May denied Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) expedited motion to quash a subpoena requiring him to testify before the special purpose grand jury. You can read the order below. Topics: Documents Tags: …
Lindsey Graham Can’t Ignore a Fulton County Subpoena
Lindsey Graham (https://wordpress.org/openverse/image/c5bf5d48-6c98-4c39-afa5-f4c5782ee26b) Editor’s note: this afternoon, Judge Leigh Martin May issued an order denying Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) motion to quash the subpoena. The order follows an oral argument that took place last Wednesday at the Richard B. Russell…
Thoughts on the Mar-a-Lago Search and the President’s Classification and Declassification Authority
President Trump Signs an Executive Order (https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse45/50057959533/) Charlie Savage’s piece “Presidential Power to Declassify Information, Explained,” published yesterday in the New York Times, is an excellent and informative writing on the classification authority and how it might impact a potential…
America’s Allies and the War in Afghanistan
One year ago today, the Taliban entered Kabul as the Afghan government collapsed. The Taliban’s entrance into Afghanistan’s capital city marked the failure of the U.S.’s 20-year war and attempt to build a sustainable Afghan government. The Taliban’s military victory…
Rethinking How the United States Trains Foreign Militaries
A Liberian soldier salutes Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, then-president of Liberia, at Roberts International Airport on June 20, 2013, after receiving U.S. training in preparation to deploy to Mali. Photo credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Brian Bahret. Editor’s…
Thoughts on the Mar-a-Lago Search
Donald Trump signs an executive order on June 4, 2020. (White House) I have long worried (here, and, more recently, here) about the adverse consequences of the Biden Justice Department using criminal process against former President Donald Trump. I have…
Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant Unsealed
Editor’s note: this document post has been updated to more accurately reflect the nature of the search. The warrant cited 18 U.S.C. § § 793, 2071, and 1519 in support of the Aug. 8 search on former president Trump’s Mar-a-Lago…
What’s in the Unsealed Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant?
Marine One at Mar-a-Lago (https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse45/33638029748) On Friday afternoon, Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhardt of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida unsealed the search warrant the FBI executed at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, along with the inventory of seized…
Mar-a-Lago Raid Warrant Unsealed
The warrant cited 18 U.S.C. § § 793, 2071, and 1519 in support of the Aug. 8 raid on former president Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. You can read the warrant here or below: Topics: Documents, Donald Trump, The January 6…
Where’s Rudy? A Fulton County Court Wants to Know
Rudy Giuliani speaking at a Turning Point USA conference in 2019 (Gage Skidmore, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rudy_Giuliani_(49276593842).jpg; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en). It’s half past noon on a Tuesday in Atlanta, and Rudy Giuliani is nowhere in sight. That would be unremarkable on any…
A Quick Take on the FTC’s Privacy and Security Rulemaking
Federal Trade Commission building (Kurt Kaiser, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Federal_Trade_Commission_Building_2.jpg; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en). On Aug. 11, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on commercial surveillance and data security. The notice kicks off what could be a…
Trump’s Lawyers Say He Will Not Oppose Mar-a-Lago Warrant Unsealing
The U.S. filed a notice that the former president does not object to the government’s Motion to Unseal Limited Warrant Materials and requests that the court grant its motion. You can read the filing here or below: Topics: Documents, Donald…
Schedule F: An Unwelcome Resurgence
The White House (Ken Lund, https://flic.kr/p/o32YUY; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/). A controversial federal workforce policy from the Trump administration is back in the headlines as the former president and several members of Congress propose resurrecting it in future administrations. Schedule…
A Road Map for Tech Policy Experimentation
Phone applications (PxHere, https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1240859; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). Experimentation is routinely used to develop vaccines that save lives, improve professional
The Chatter Podcast: Journalism as Fodder for Fiction with Mary Louise Kelly
Mary Louise Kelly is one of the most recognizable voices in American journalism. A co-host of NPR’s flagship program “All Things Considered,” she has spent years interviewing top newsmakers and traveling the world to chronicle stories about national security and…
From Defending the Open Internet to Confronting the Reality of a Fragmented Cyberspace: Reflecting Upon Two CFR Reports on U.S. Goals in Cyberspace
Global internet (mohamed hassan, https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1451419; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). Nine years ago, a Council on Foreign Relations-sponsored independent task force published a report on U.S. cyber policy entitled “Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet.” Last month, CFR issued the…
Observations on Iran’s Plot to Kill John Bolton
Parade of IRGC tank transporters (http://www.ypa.ir/media/k2/galleries/517/02.jpg) Today the U.S. Department of Justice released a criminal complaint against Shahram Poursafi, a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force, alleging that he attempted to orchestrate the murder of former…
Intern with Lawfare!
The Lawfare Institute—publisher of information and insight at the intersection of national security, law, and policy—is accepting fall 2022 internship applications. The selected candidate will have the option of working remotely or in a hybrid model based in Washington, D.C.…
In U.S. v. Al-Nashiri the Government Is Rewarding Torture and Incentivizing Torturers
Soldier in a guard tower at Camp Delta at Joint Task Force Guantanamo. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth/Released, https://flic.kr/p/8cLLdg; CC BY-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/) There has been no serious dispute for years that the Guantanamo military…
What We Do and Don’t Know about the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago Search
Marine One at Mar-a-Lago (https://wordpress.org/openverse/image/7ababeae-cc66-495e-8069-10b6f622dae6) The FBI’s surprise search of former President Trump’s residence has raised unanswered questions and engendered wide speculation. Here is a guide for the perplexed. What do we know about the law enforcement activity on Monday…
The Aftermath, Episode 4: A Bipartisan Interlude
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: In Episode 1, available here, we examined how the events of Jan. 6…
Water Wars: Speaker Pelosi’s Taiwan Visit Ignites U.S.-China Tensions
The USS Benfold (DDG 65) conducts routine underway operations on July 13, 2022. Source: US Navy Photo Shinzo Abe Leaves Behind Indo-Pacific Legacy Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on July 8 in Nara, Japan, during a speech…
A Century-and-a-Half Look at the Waves of Global Terrorism
Soldiers in the desert (https://pxhere.com/en/photo/607887; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). A review of David C. Rapoport, “Waves of Global Terrorism: From 1879 to the Present” (Colombia University Press, 2022). *** As harassed universit […]Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please…
The Wrong Way to Compete With China
U.S. Capitol building at night, September 6, 2018 (AnthonyTPope, https://tinyurl.com/22wc8enn; CC BY-SA 4.0; https://tinyurl.com/bdethezx). More than two years after it was first proposed, Congress has finally passed one of the most anticipated legislative efforts of the Biden presidency: a bipartisan…
Were Facebook and Twitter Consistent in Labeling Misleading Posts During the 2020 Election?
An official Twitter account announces that the company has applied a content label to a tweet from Pres. Donald Trump on Aug. 24 2020. Photo credit: Twitter. Editor’s Note: To fight election-related misinformation, social media platforms often apply labels that…
Climate Change and National Security with Erin Sikorsky
Climate change and its effects are increasingly recognized as important subjects of national security research and analysis. Few issues of international political economy or international security avoid some intersection with warming global temperatures, evolving environments for human habitation, and/or changing…
The Supreme Court’s Own Goal on Climate Change
United States Supreme Court building (Jarek Tuszyński, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Supreme_Court_-_corrected.jpg; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en). In 1970, Sen. Roman Hruska of Nebraska achieved a dubious immortality when he argued that mediocrity deserves “a little representation” on the Supreme Court in remarks supporting the…
The Lessons—and Limits—of the Jan. 6 Committee
JessicaRodriguezRivas, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Going into the House select committee’s hearings to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, press coverage was cautious—even dour—about what the effort would be able to accomplish. As ProPublica editor-in-chief…
Seeing the Dots, Connecting the Dots: How Government Can Unify Cybersecurity Efforts
Computer keyboard (Philipp, https://flic.kr/p/944A8a; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/). The U.S. defense industrial base (DIB) has been a critical partner in ensuring that the United States has enjoyed unrivaled military and economic prowess since World War II. However, over the past…
On the Legality of the Strike that Killed Ayman al-Zawahiri
Military drone (Vahe312, https://tinyurl.com/yz4haud7; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en). Early in the morning on Sunday this past weekend, Ayman al-Zawahiri stepped out onto a balcony of a home in Kabul. It was something he’d done many times before without apparent incident,…
The Subversive Trilemma in Cyber Conflict and Beyond
Laptop keyboard (rupixen, https://pixabay.com/images/id-4337491/; Pixabay, Free for commercial use). In a Lawfare post, Jason Healey provides a thoughtful critique of my recently published theory on the “subversive trilemma.” The key argument I make (summarized here) is that cyber operations are…
On the Legality of the Strike that Killed Anwar al-Zawahiri
Military drone (Vahe312, https://tinyurl.com/yz4haud7; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en). Early in the morning on Sunday this past weekend, Ayman al-Zawahiri stepped out onto a balcony of a home in Kabul. It was something he’d done many times before without apparent incident,…
Al-Qaeda after al-Zawahiri
Touareg militants share control of northern Mali with Islamist groups and al-Qaeda fighters (Magharebia, https://tinyurl.com/bdz2neaz; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en). Ayman al-Zawahiri, who led al-Qaeda since Osama Bin Laden’s death in 2011, is dead from a U.S. drone strike on a…
Zawahiri’s Legacy and the Prospects for an al-Qaeda Revival
Ayman al-Zawahiri appears in a promotional image for a video released by al-Qaeda's media arm in Dec. 2019. Photo credit: via @ToreRHamming/Twitter. Editor’s Note: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is dead, but al-Qaeda persists. How dangerous is the group today? Colin Clarke of…
Didi Fined $1.2 Billion for Violating Data Security Laws
Semiconductor chip (maticulous, https://flic.kr/p/C6zkEA; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) China’s cybersecurity regulator fined Didi Global Inc. $1.2 billion on July 21 for violating cybersecurity and data laws, drawing to a close a year-long probe into the ride-hailing giant. The Cyberspace Administration…
Reflections on the Death of Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman al-Zawahiri sits with Osama bin Laden during an interview in Kabul, November 2001. (Hamid Mir, https://tinyurl.com/bjuespv9; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en) President Biden is right this evening to emphasize the importance of delivering justice to Ayman al-Zawahiri. It is clear…
A Frontier Without Direction? The U.K.’s Latest Position on Responsible Cyber Power
QuoteInspector.com Copyright: © 2018 Advantus Media, Inc. and QuoteInspector.com (http://contemporarysecuritypolicy.org/files/2021/02/Padlock-keyboard-key.jpg) On May 19, Suella Braverman, the U.K.’s attorney general, delivered a highly anticipated speech to Chatham House, building on the U.K.’s position on the applicability of international law to offensive…
The War in Ukraine: A New Paradigm of Sanctions Practice
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stands with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola during a conference calling for transatlantic unity and further sanctions against Russia. (European Parliament, https://flic.kr/p/2namuEF; CC BY 2.0) The war in Ukraine has disrupted the international order, reenergizing…
Air Defense and the Limits of Drone Technology
A missile is loaded onto an MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone at Camp Taji, Iraq, on Feb. 27, 2011. Photo credit: 1st Lt. Jason Sweeney via DVIDS/Public Domain. Editor’s Note: Drones are often heralded as revolutionizing warfare, but recent experiences in Ukraine…
How Young Is Too Young to Be a Police Officer?
Police car sirens (PxHere, https://pxhere.com/en/photo/569310; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). On Aug. 9, 2014, when Officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown, Wilson was 28 years old. He had joined his first police department in Jennings, Missouri, in 2009 when he was 23.…
Hack Post-Quantum Cryptography Now So That Bad Actors Don’t Do It Later
IBM quantum computer (IBM Research, https://flic.kr/p/2jyFt2u; CC BY-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/) In February, a researcher sent a shock wave through the cryptography community by claiming that an algorithm that might become a cornerstone of the next generation of internet encryption can…
The Chatter Podcast: Spotting Fake News with Cindy Otis
Fake news has been around for thousands of years in different forms that have changed with media technology, and there’s little doubt that it’s here to stay. For reasons ranging from human biases to financial incentives to the need for…
After Dobbs, Democrats and Republicans Switch Places on Speech Policy
Supreme Court of the United States (Adam Fagen, https://flic.kr/p/JdXrP; CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/) The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade is likely to have a sweeping effect on abortion and privacy, but it will also set the stage for…
How to Evaluate Progress in the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 Investigation
Department of Justice building (Gregory Varnum, https://tinyurl.com/yc8r9usu; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en). On Tuesday evening, July 26, the Washington Post broke the news that the Justice Department is investigating the actions of President Donald Trump in connection with its criminal probe…
Constitutional Citizenship in the U.S. Territories
Pago Pago Harbor, American Samoa (Tavita Togia, National Park Service of American Samoa; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PagoPago_Harbor_NPS.jpg; National Park Service photo, https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm) The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to “[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”…
Anti-Censorship Legislation: A Flawed Attempt to Address a Legitimate Problem
Social media icons on an iPhone screen. (Stacey MacNaught, https://flic.kr/p/Y69SeU; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). Editor’s Note: The authors have received support from Meta for their work examining the intersection of technology and national security. Various malign actors have used social…
Moving Toward Blanket Immunity: Israeli Supreme Court Blocks Gaza Tort Cases
Inner courtyard of Israel Supreme Court building (Avi1111, https://tinyurl.com/589hrjmh; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) On July 5, a panel of three justices on the Supreme Court of Israel rendered a long-awaited decision in a civil appeal brought against a 2018 district…
Limits in the Seas No. 150 and the U.S.’s Misinterpretation of ‘Historic Rights’
USS Carl Vinson transits the South China Sea (Official US Navy Page, https://flic.kr/p/2mstZv9; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) In 2013, the Phillipines brought a case against China concerning maritime rights in the South China Sea. It did so under Annex VII…
Open-Source Security: How Digital Infrastructure Is Built on a House of Cards
("Hackers (pt. 2)" by Ifrah Yousuf is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://cybervisuals.org/visual/hackers-pt-2//https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Open source is free software built collaboratively by a community of developers, often volunteers, for public use. Google, iPhones, the national power grid, surgical operating rooms, baby…
Data Brokers, Elder Fraud, and Justice Department Investigations
Person using a magnifying glass to find information on a page (mohamed hassan, https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1640402; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) On June 24, Sens. Ron Wyden, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker and Rep. Sara Jacobs wrote a letter to Lina Khan, the chairperson…
The United States Learned From Iraq and Afghanistan. Russia Didn’t.
U.S. troops patrol near Sar Howza, Afghanistan, on Sept. 4, 2009. Photo credit: Staff Sgt. Andrew Smith/Combat Camera/Public Domain via DVIDS Editor’s Note: As the United States orients its strategy around great power competition, questions have arisen as to whether…
ICJ Asserts Jurisdiction in Myanmar Genocide Case
The International Court of Justice has asserted its jurisdiction to rule on the case brought by the Gambia against Myanmar for its alleged genocide against its Rohingya population. In a vote of 15 to 1, with Chinese judge Xue Hanqin…
Flood the Zone With Cheap Drones
Attack drone Aralez Davao (Vahe312, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Attack_Drone_Aralez_Davaro.jpg; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en). The U.S. government has provided substantial support to the Ukrainian military since the Russian invasion, including supplying Ukraine with sophisticated rocket systems, artillery pieces, surface-to-air missiles, and a host of…
Cybersecurity, the ECPA, Carpenter, and Government Transparency
Cybersecurity (mohamed mahmoud hassan, https://tinyurl.com/4he9z97p; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) December 2020 and January 2021 saw two successive intrusions—SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange—that were committed by nation-states and affected both public and private sectors. Two months after these intrusions, Gen. Paul Nakasone, the…
Is It Possible to Reconcile Encryption and Child Safety?
Computer keyboard (PxHere, https://tinyurl.com/4cwjrayy; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) As the number of economies and lives that have moved online increases, so does the collective reliance on the plethora of global social media and communication services, and with that reliance comes certain…
The Bipartisan House Privacy Bill Would Surpass State Protections
Computer privacy protection (mohamed hasan, https://tinyurl.com/mr3uft2x; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). After decades of negotiations, federal efforts toward a comprehensive data privacy law progressed significantly this week with the House Energy and Commerce Committee approving the American Data Privacy and Protection Act…
The Chatter Podcast: Spies and Art Forgers with Daniel Silva
This week, Shane Harris talks with international best-selling novelist Daniel Silva, the creator of the long-running Gabriel Allon series. His latest installment in the adventures of the spy/art restorer is out now. Before he became a full-time fiction writer, Silva…
In Defense of the Justice Department
Department of Justice building (Gregory Varnum, https://tinyurl.com/yc8r9usu; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en) Editor’s Note: The following article should be read in conversation with “Is the Justice Department Meeting the Moment?” by Quinta Jurecic and Natalie Orpett. Together, the articles articulate two…
Is the Justice Department Meeting the Moment?
Department of Justice building (M.V. Jantzen, https://flic.kr/p/ttcaA; CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/). Editor’s Note: The following article should be read in conversation with “In Defense of the Justice Department” by Benjamin Wittes. Together, the articles articulate two sides of a debate…
Dissecting the Justice Department’s Prosecutorial Decisions on Navarro, Meadows, and Scavino
Department of Justice building (Wally Gobetz, https://flic.kr/p/9pLGg5; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/) On June 3, the Department of Justice revealed an indictment charging former Trump adviser Peter Navarro with contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena issued…
Soldiers, Not Soldiers of Fortune
Ukrainian flag (Mr ATM, https://flic.kr/p/2n98Sgt; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). The conflict in Ukraine has brought a number of innovations to international humanitarian law. One of the least analyzed innovations has been one of the most arcane: Authorities in the breakaway…
Modularity for International Internet Governance
Global internet (mohamed hassan, https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1441535; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) The modern-day “global” internet faces a dubious future. On the battle lines of internet freedom, Russia’s increasing authoritarian control aspires to China’s great firewall levels, while the annual Freedom on the Net…
The President’s (and USTR’s) Trade Agreement Authority: From Fisheries to IPEF
President Biden at an IPEF meeting in 2022. (Official photo by the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Indai) Editor’s note: This article was initially published at the International Economic Law and Policy Blog. Over the last few years, separation-of-trade-law-powers
Want to Reduce the Deficit? Cut the Pentagon’s Wish Lists.
Aerial view of the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. (mariordo59, https://tinyurl.com/mr2s5scj; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en) President Biden recently announced that his administration oversaw a federal budget deficit reduction of $350 billion last year and is projecting a $1.7 trillion reduction by the…
The History of Countering Violent Extremism Tends to Repeat. It Shouldn’t.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray testify to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Sept. 21, 2021. Photo credit: DHS Photo by Zachary Hupp via Flickr. Editor’s Note: Political leaders…
Today’s Headlines and Commentary
President Biden completed his flight from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia—marking the first time a U.S. president has flown such a route—and met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman with a fist bump on the tarmac. Saudi Arabia is a…