U.S. International Policy for Cybersecurity: Five Issues That Won’t Go Away

On May 29, 2009, President Obama released his Cyberspace Policy Review (the Review). The Review, conducted by the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council, examined existing government initiatives addressing cyberspace security in order to develop a strategic framework to coordinate government action.

The “War on Terror” Is Over — Now What? Restoring the Four Freedoms as a Foundation for Peace and Security

The so-called “war on terror” has ended. By the end of his first week in office, President Barack H. Obama had begun the process of dismantling some of the most notorious “wartime” measures. A few weeks before, recently reappointed Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates had clearly forsaken the contentious label in a post-election essay on U.S. strategy in Foreign Affairs. Gates noted this historic shift in an almost offhanded way: “What is dubbed the war on terror is, in grim reality, a prolonged, worldwide irregular campaign – a struggle between the forces of violent extremism and those of moderation.” At the same time, the Obama administration is taking care to reconfirm its commitment to defending the United States and its interests against the threat of radical Islamists, among others. However, because it is hard to replace something with nothing, this article argues that the President should go further and offer a positive formulation – based on good law as well as sound policy – of how he will lead us to a “future of peace and dignity.” He should restore Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms to a central place in the nation’s grand strategy.