Just security

Bipartisan cooperation in Washington is hard to come by these days. But Republicans and Democrats are still finding common ground on one of America’s most urgent security challenges: supporting countries where violence and instability fuel migration, empower malign actors, and open doors for U.S. adversaries. The common ground … Global Fragility Act 2.0? Amid a Possible Bipartisan Revival, a Chance to Make U.S. Peace Efforts More EffectiveRead more

On Sept. 16 the United States and United Kingdom announced the Tech Prosperity Deal. Launched at a major bilateral summit attended both by heads of state and of frontier AI labs and technology companies (including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and OpenAI’s Sam Altman), it promises an unprecedented $200 billion … Trading Sovereignty for Scale? The Costs of the U.S.–U.K. Tech Prosperity DealRead 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:  ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE AND HOSTAGES AND PRISONER RELEASE “The defense establishment clarifies that, contrary to reports, the Rafah Crossing did … Early Edition: October 15, 2025Read more

President Donald Trump has made suppressing speech he doesn’t like a governing priority. From his first days back in office he cast dissent as disloyalty, promising “retribution” against anyone who criticized, investigated, or resisted him. He then translated that promise into action through regulatory proceedings, lawsuits, clearance revocations, … Weaponizing the Espionage Act: What It Means for Whistleblowers, Reporters, and DemocracyRead more

In the recent cases challenging the federalization and deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, Portland, and Chicago, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has repeatedly argued that the courts should defer to the president’s determination that protests against ICE activity in those cities has rendered the … When Deference is No Longer DueRead more

U.S. export controls are evolving from a narrow national security tool to a broader trade policy instrument, reflecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s willingness to blend economic and national security negotiations and such controls’ growing impact on economic growth, technological leadership, and geopolitical influence.Trade policy experts are now scrambling … Export Controls and U.S. Trade Policy: Making Sense of the New TerrainRead 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: ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE AND HOSTAGES AND PRISONER RELEASE Israeli forces today killed four Palestinian in Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood, … Early Edition: October 14, 2025Read more

Crackdowns on the legal profession — lawyers, judges and prosecutors — are part of a longstanding authoritarian playbook used around the world to silence dissent. Europe and Eurasia alone provide a plethora of examples — from European Union member Hungary — and previously Poland — to Belarus, Russia, … Attacks on U.S. Legal Profession Reflect Global Slide in Countries It Once AidedRead 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 — HOSTAGE AND PRISONER RELEASES All 20 of the remaining living hostages in Gaza have returned to Israel this morning. They have … Early Edition: October 13, 2025Read more

Russia-Ukraine War Russia’s Eliminationist Rhetoric Against Ukraine: A Collection (Updated) by Clara Apt Series: When Guardrails Erode The Anti-Corruption Tracker: Mapping the Erosion of Oversight and Accountability by Dani Schulkin, Amy Markopolous and Maya Nir Series: Spyware The Rome Statute in the Digital Age: Confronting Emerging Cyber Threats … Digest of Recent Articles on Just Security (Oct. 6-10, 2025)Read more

In the ongoing discussions about a new global treaty on crimes against humanity, many of which have been chronicled on this site, States and civil society have increasingly called for recognition of environmental destruction as a form of mass harm. Frustrated with the inability of other mechanisms of … Attacks on Nature, Atrocities Against People: The Case for Environmental Harm as a 12th Crime Against HumanityRead 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:  ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR The ceasefire in Gaza is now in effect and Israeli forces are pulling back from parts of the territory … Early Edition: October 10, 2025Read 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: ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR Israel and Hamas overnight agreed on the initial terms of a deal to exchange the Israeli hostages and around … Early Edition: October 9, 2025Read more

On September 29, President Donald Trump issued an executive order entitled “Ensuring the Security of the State of Qatar,” which sets out significant U.S. security commitments to Qatar in the event of an external attack against it. The order announces that “it is the policy of the United … Some Questions About Trump’s Order Pledging to Defend Qatar’s SecurityRead more

In his speech at the United Nations (U.N.), President Trump claimed (no fewer than four times) that he has “ended seven unendable wars.” This assertion, which he began repeating over the summer, is not only a gross exaggeration: it also betrays a flawed understanding of peace itself. Under … A Closer Look at Trump’s Peace Deals: From “Death and Hatred” to “Love and Success”?Read more

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth listed many targets during his speech to the largest assembled gathering of U.S. generals and admirals in American history, along with their senior enlisted advisers. In his quest to rebuild a supposedly broken warrior mindset, Hegseth named “toxic leadership,” “wokeness,” fitness and … Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s War with the Rules of EngagementRead more

Through increased collaboration, countries can deploy their sanctions and designations authorities to strategically target transnational violent extremism. In May 2025, federal authorities extradited Georgian national Michail Chkhikvishvili (aka “The Butcher”) on charges including soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence in New York City. According to the … A New Approach in the Fight Against Transnational Violent Extremism is NeededRead more

President Donald Trump’s pursuit of peace and critical minerals deals in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may be about to face a significant self-imposed obstacle. The Trump administration is strongly considering effectively removing sanctions on mining magnate Dan Gertler despite sanctioning him under a flagship global anti-corruption … U.S. Sanctions Removal on Mining Magnate Would Set Back Peace and Investment in DR CongoRead more

(Editor’s note: This article, originally published on June 6, 2022 and updated previously, is now updated to add new instances of eliminationist rhetoric, including by Putin, Medvedev, Director General of Russia’s Roskosmos State Space Agency Dmitry Rogozin, political scientist Rostislav Ishchenko, and Sergey Mironov, State Duma Leader of … Russia’s Eliminationist Rhetoric Against Ukraine: A CollectionRead 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 200 National Guard troops from Texas arrived in Illinois yesterday and are expected to be deployed today … Early Edition: October 8, 2025Read more

The start of the 2025 academic year has been met with a string of swatting attacks on universities across the United States. An online group called Purgatory – part of a nihilistic violent extremist network known as The Com – has taken credit for many of the recent … Swatting Attacks and Nihilistic Violent Extremism: A PrimerRead more

Later this month, governments from around the world will be invited to sign a new international treaty: On Oct. 25, in Hanoi, Vietnam, the “United Nations Convention against Cybercrime; Strengthening International Cooperation for Combating Certain Crimes Committed by Means of Information and Communications Technology Systems and for the … Russian Motivations Behind the “Hanoi Convention” Against CybercrimeRead more

Many countries have sham elections. Saddam Hussein claimed to have won more than 100 percent of the vote in 2002. President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus declared victory earlier this year after an “election” where his only contenders were loyalists who campaigned on praising him. Embedded dictatorships often go … After Another Sham Election in Georgia, the Country’s Citizens PersistRead more

Since early September, President Trump has ordered the U.S. military to conduct multiple lethal strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea suspected of drug trafficking, resulting in at least 21 deaths.  These unprecedented military actions raise critical questions about the identity of those targeted, the Administration’s legal justification, … The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part II — What We Know about U.S. Vessel Strikes One Month InRead 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 — U.S. MILITARY ACTION IN THE CARIBBEAN The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has produced a classified … Early Edition: October 7, 2025Read more

Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump succeeded masterfully at Quantico last week in earning media attention. But all the finger wagging over “fat generals and admirals,” “dudes in dresses,” and the “warrior spirit” was a side show and a tactical diversion from the main event of the … Trump’s Outline of a Domestic WarRead more

When Edward Snowden leaked National Security Agency (NSA) documents more than a decade ago and exposed the breadth of U.S. government surveillance operations worldwide, the threat of invasive cyber capabilities was limited to a handful of state powers. Non-state actors lacked the technical capacity, infrastructure, and resources to … The Rome Statute in the Digital Age: Confronting Emerging Cyber ThreatsRead more

With the unprecedented gathering of general and flag officers and their senior enlisted advisers at Quantico now in the rearview, one thing is certain: at no time since 1860 have military leaders confronted such a grave challenge to their oath to support and defend the Constitution.  There are … The Crisis in Uniform: The Danger of Presidential Immunity for the U.S. MilitaryRead 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: GLOBAL POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his government resigned today. Lecornu, who was appointed in September, named his new cabinet hours … Early Edition: October 6, 2025Read more

U.S. Strikes / Venezuela Legal Flaws in the Trump Administration’s Notice to Congress on “Armed Conflict” with Drug Cartels by Marty Lederman What the Senate Judiciary Committee Should Ask A.G. Bondi on Drug Cartel Strikes by Mary B. McCord and Tess Bridgeman Russia-Ukraine War Legally Available Options in … Digest of Recent Articles on Just Security (Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2025)Read more