This article explores the tension between the policy objectives of United States counterterrorism efforts (deterrence, incapacitation, and intelligence gathering) and the traditional legal frameworks used to justify them (the law of war and the criminal justice model). All three branches of government, the author urges, have worked at cross-purposes in developing a counterterrorism policy that… Continue reading Harmonizing Policy & Principle: A Hybrid Model for Counterterrorism
Category: Issue Archive
Legitimacy Versus Legality Redux: Arming the Syrian Rebels
The provision of lethal aid to the Syrian rebels appears questionable from a purely legal perspective. It would arguably amount to a use of force. Neither of the traditional legal justifications for the use of force—self-defense and authorization by the Security Council—applies in this case. While humanitarian intervention arguably offers a (weak) basis for the… Continue reading Legitimacy Versus Legality Redux: Arming the Syrian Rebels
Easier Said than Done: Legal Reviews of Cyber Weapons
Allegations that Stuxnet was part of a U.S. planned and led covert cyber operation and assertions that a nation-state used a cyber-attack in support of national security objectives reinvigorated the attention of cyber-law commentators. Military attorneys, however, must translate deeply theoretical discussions into concrete legal advice. This article concludes that treating all cyber techniques as… Continue reading Easier Said than Done: Legal Reviews of Cyber Weapons