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One phrase comes up frequently when diplomats review last week’s high-level week at the United Nations General Assembly: “It could have been worse.” They are referring, unsurprisingly, to President Donald Trump’s return to the world organization, the first time he had been to a U.N. gathering since taking … Trump Signals Instrumental Approach to U.N. – But it Could Be WorseRead more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS — GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN On the first day of shutdown, the Trump administration yesterday froze $26 billion for states … Early Edition: October 2, 2025Read more

Since February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Office of the Prosecutor has reported 376 registered cases of conflict-related sexual violence against civilians. This number falls short of reflecting the true scale of these crimes (expected to reach the thousands), and even more … Balancing the Scales: Survivors’ Needs and Rights and Criminal Accountability in UkraineRead more

Terrorism is intended to send a violent message, targeting persons who symbolize or encapsulate the perpetrator’s animus. Even though the details concerning Charlie Kirk’s assassination have been the subject of ideological rancor, his death is the latest politically motivated murder that tragically distills human life into the collateral … Assassinations in America: How Political Violence Became PersonalRead more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS — DEFENSE POLICY  President Trump yesterday told hundreds of top U.S. generals and admirals that U.S. cities should … Early Edition: October 1, 2025Read more

AI tools are reshaping how Americans learn, work, and solve problems. These tools exist on a spectrum, from the machine learning and natural language processing that powers Siri in iPhones, to major defense initiatives like Project Maven that rapidly generates lists of targets by synthesizing intelligence and a … AI’s Hidden National Security CostRead more

U.S. President Donald Trump declared that Europe must stop buying Russian energy before the United States imposes secondary sanctions on major importers of Russian oil and gas such as China. Scott Bessent, his Treasury secretary, went further, arguing that the United States and its allies could together “collapse … The Imperative to Weaken the Kremlin’s War Economy: What the West Can DoRead more

Author’s note: Security Council Report (SCR) is an independent think tank dedicated to supporting a more effective, transparent, and accountable U.N. Security Council. A version of this article will appear in SCR’s October Monthly Forecast. In recent years the use of force in self-defense has become increasingly contentious. … The United Nations in Hindsight: The Increasing Use of Article 51 of the UN Charter and the Security CouncilRead more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: FEDERALIZATION OF DOMESTIC POLICING  The Homeland Security Department has notified Illinois it has asked the Defense Department for “the deployment of … Early Edition: September 30, 2025Read more

This is the last in a series of four pieces concerning the ongoing challenges to the legality of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order No. 14160 (the “Citizenship Order”), which declares that two categories of persons born in the United States to foreign nationals are not U.S. citizens by … Taking Stock of the Birthright Citizenship Cases, Part IV: DOJ’s Ineffective Responses to Plaintiffs’ Statutory ArgumentRead more

On Sept. 19, three Russian MiG-31 Foxhound fighters penetrated Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland for approximately 12 minutes. Finnish jets intercepted them, NATO scrambled Italian F-35s deployed to Estonia as part of the NATO Air Policing mission, and Swedish fighters monitored the Russian aircraft after they … Legally Available Options in Response to Russia’s Penetrations of NATO AirspaceRead more

President Xi Jinping appeared virtually at the UN Secretary-General’s climate leaders’ event on September 24th to announce China’s long-awaited next “nationally determined contribution” (or “NDC”) under the Paris Agreement. It sets an economy-wide target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10% below peak levels by 2035, along with … Xi’s Climate Announcement: A Disappointment, Not a BreakthroughRead more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news: FEDERALIZATION OF DOMESTIC POLICING  President Trump on Saturday said he had directed troops to be sent to Portland, Oregon, and that he authorized the … Early Edition: September 29, 2025Read more

U.S. Strikes / Venezuela The United States’ Dirty War on “Narco Terrorism” by Ben Saul US Servicemembers’ Exposure to Criminal Liability for Lethal Strikes on Narcoterrorists by Daniel Maurer Israel-Hamas War Yet Again: The U.K. Government Mischaracterizes Its Obligation to Prevent Genocide in Gaza by Tom Dannenbaum and … Digest of Recent Articles on Just Security (Sept. 22-26, 2025)Read more

Next week, America’s most senior military officers — the generals and admirals — and senior enlisted personnel will have to appear en masse at a base in Quantico, Virginia, at the direction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The purpose of this assembly is not clear, a fact … FAQ for Senior Military Officers at Hegseth’s Quantico MeetingRead more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS — PROSECUTIONS  A federal grand jury yesterday indicted former FBI Director James Comey on one count of making … Early Edition: September 26, 2025Read more

Days after a bishop was stabbed during a live-streamed church service in Sydney, a group of teenagers, one as young as 14, began plotting a gun massacre targeting the Jewish community. According to police, the boys shared violent fantasies over encrypted chats, discussing how to acquire firearms and … Children, Young People and the Emerging Terrorism Threat LandscapeRead more

Last week, an Independent International Commission of Inquiry mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The Commission reminds every UN member state that “even in the absence of an express order by the International Court of Justice, all States … Yet Again: The U.K. Government Mischaracterizes Its Obligation to Prevent Genocide in GazaRead more

A traditional approach to nuclear weapons tends to focus on State security matters and does not lend itself easily to a human rights lens. A new initiative undertaken within the Human Rights Council is changing that by offering a transitional justice framework to address the consequences of the … A human rights approach to nuclear regimes: lessons from the legacy of nuclear testing in the Marshall IslandsRead more

With Executive Orders (EOs), American presidents are meant to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” not make new laws. Instead, President Donald Trump has issued a blizzard of EOs that change laws, revoke rights, and selectively punish people from certain groups. The orders redirect U.S. law … Repression as Rescue: The Authoritarian Logic of Trump’s Early Executive OrdersRead more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: GLOBAL AFFAIRS  China will seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 7 to 10 percent by 2035, Chinese President … Early Edition: September 25, 2025Read more

When Congress passed the budget bill on July 1, it made U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the largest federal law enforcement agency, more than tripling its annual budget. The bill includes an unprecedented $45 billion for ICE to build new immigration detention centers that will house both adults and … Private Prison Companies’ Enormous Windfall: Who Stands to Gain as ICE ExpandsRead more

The U.S. military has engaged in three lethal strikes killing 17 people allegedly carrying illicit narcotics through the Caribbean Sea’s international waters en route to the United States. The President and his advisors framed the attacks as justifiable national “self-defense” against an imminent foreign threat.  The White House … US Servicemembers’ Exposure to Criminal Liability for Lethal Strikes on NarcoterroristsRead more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS  Climate change is the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and “stupid people” created the scientific … Early Edition: September 24, 2025Read more

The Trump administration is deploying a previously limited tactic to achieve its deregulatory goals: entering consent decrees—settlements between the parties that are entered as court orders—with private plaintiffs to wipe a challenged law or regulation from the books. The administration has even started using this tactic offensively, suing … Trump’s Use of Consent Decrees to Dismantle PolicyRead more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS President Trump yesterday signed an executive order purporting to designate Antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization” and directing … Early Edition: September 23, 2025Read more

The Trump administration is building a multi-billion dollar deportation industrial complex to meet its reported goal of arresting 3,000 immigrants a day—more than one million immigrants a year. Despite the administration’s claims that it is targeting “the worst of the worst,”  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data show … The U.S. Deportation Industrial Complex: Arrests and Detention by the NumbersRead more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news: ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE  The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Portugal yesterday announced they now formally recognize Palestinian statehood. The series of statements … Early Edition: September 22, 2025Read more

The United States recently fused the “war on drugs” with the “war on terror” by killing “narco terrorists” aboard vessels in the Caribbean Sea. The killings violate the human right to life and reflect an alarming new phase of U.S. lawlessness abroad. On Sept. 2, 2025, President Donald … The United States’ Dirty War on “Narco Terrorism”Read more

U.S. Strike / Venezuela Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers by Just Security Asserting a License to Kill: Why the Caribbean Strike is a Dangerous Departure from the “War on Terror” by Brian Finucane Murder by Drone: The Legal and Moral Stakes of the Caribbean Strikes … Digest of Recent Articles on Just Security (Sept. 15-19, 2025)Read more