Law Commons^™

Updating The Caroline Doctrine: A Relic In An Age Of Hypersonic Weapons, David S. Jonas, Tyler Breeden

American University International Law Review

The United States dropped “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, bringing an end to World War II and killing between 110,000 and 210,000 people. Japan surely needed much more than rock and roll to help them—especially since Japan had no nuclear weapons of their own to deter the United States from attacking with nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons technology has evolved considerably in the years since 1945, when only the United States possessed nuclear weapons. Nine states now have or are suspected of having them, and at least one other state appears to …

U.S. National Security And Climate Change, Alexandra E. Koch, Nicole K. Carle, Gregory P. Noone

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

As sea temperatures rise and natural disasters intensify, it is critical that the U.S. national security strategy actively include plans to account for global climate change and address the complex environmental and humanitarian challenges that parallel and are driven by rising temperatures, such as resource scarcity, forced displacement, and regional instability. Climate change acts as a “threat multiplier for instability” in some of the most volatile regions of the world and can contribute to rising tensions even in historically stable regions. Climate change can also lead to increased vulnerability of military infrastructure and logistics, undermine military readiness, and demand a …

The State Secrets Privilege: An Institutional Process Approach, Alexandra B. Dakich

Northwestern University Law Review

It is no secret that since September 11, 2001, the Executive Branch has acted at variance with laws otherwise restraining its conduct under the guise of national security. Among other doctrines that make up the new national security canon, state secrets privilege assertions have narrowed the scope of redressability for parties alleging official misconduct in national security cases. For parties such as the Muslim American community surveilled by the FBI in Orange County, California, or Abu Zubaydah, who was subjected to confirmed torture tactics by the U.S. government, success in the courts hinges on the government’s unbridled ability to assert …

Regulating The Use Of Military Human Enhancements That Can Cause Side Effects Under The Law Of Armed Conflict: Towards A Method-Based Approach, Yang Liu

American University National Security Law Brief

The development of human enhancement (HE) technology has rendered its military potential increasingly noticed by major military powers. It can be expected that “enhanced warfighters” or “super soldiers” will be used on the battleground in the foreseeable future, which can give rise to many legal issues.

The Tallinn Manual 2.0 On Nation-State Cyber Operations Affecting Critical Infrastructure, Terence Check

American University National Security Law Brief

Protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats is difficult and complex. News headlines abound with reports that show how critical infrastructure—ranging from voting machines to steel mills—have become increasingly vulnerable to cyber operations from state and sophisticated nonstate actors. As critical infrastructure becomes increasingly entangled with the Internet and as new tactics, techniques, and procedures rapidly proliferate and evolve, governments and businesses alike must contend with a mutating threat environment that may put sensitive and highly important critical infrastructure assets in serious jeopardy. The vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure, which provide vital services and functions to societies, may pose a particularly tempting …

Letter Form The Editor, Wayne Rash, Iii

American University National Security Law Brief

In our last issue of The National Security Law Brief, Vol. 13, No. 1, we highlighted the dynamism that makes National Security Law such an exciting field. In this issue, No. 2, we continue with the dynamism theme. National security law is a field in constant change that often leaves us questioning how these changes will shape the law.

The Need For An Australian Regulatory Code For The Use Of Artificial Intelligence (Ai) In Military Application, Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann, Richard V. Grant

American University National Security Law Brief

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is enabling rapid technological innovation and is ever more pervasive, in a global technological eco-system lacking suitable governance and absence of regulation over AI-enabled technologies. Australia is committed to being a global leader in trusted secure and responsible AI and has escalated the development of its own sovereign AI capabilities. Military and Defence organisations have similarly embraced AI, harnessing advantages for applications supporting battlefield autonomy, intelligence analysis, capability planning, operations, training, and autonomous weapons systems. While no regulation exists covering AI-enabled military systems and autonomous weapons, these platforms must comply with International Humanitarian Law, the Law of …

Hanging In The Balance: An Assessment Of European Versus American Data Privacy Laws And Threats To U.S. National Security, Dara Paleski

American University National Security Law Brief

Social media has quickly become an integral part of modern-day life, keeping the world connected to friends, family and current events. Social media, and the data collected from it, also play a crucial role in intelligence gathering and the safeguarding of national security. It is estimated that about 80-95% of information that is collected for intelligence missions is found freely throughout the internet or other publicly available sources. This type of information has been dubbed SOCMINT (Social Media Intelligence) and it has become a crucial tool within the intelligence community. After the Edward Snowden leaks in 2013 revealed a global …

Into The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death: War Crimes Committed In Service Of Russia's Crusade To Destroy Ukraine, Chris Galarza

American University National Security Law Brief

When Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine during the early morning of February 24, 2022, most in the American defense and diplomatic establishment were shocked and sure the war would be over in a few days. Credible open-source tactical and strategic analysis predicted that Ukraine’s regular military forces would be defeated in “days or weeks” as long as Russian military forces were determined to pursue their objectives. The United States Government was so sure that Kyiv was under imminent threat of capture that they offered to evacuate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy so that he could rule from exile, rather …

Revisiting Goldwater-Nichols: Why Making The Joint Staff A General Staff Will Improve Civilian Control Of The Military And Refine The Constitutional Balance Of War Powers, Michael D. Minerva

American University National Security Law Brief

As the United States has progressively become more involved globally since World War II, the U.S. military is being stretched beyond the professional military competency straining civilian control of the military. To remedy this, it is again time to revisit our national security structure, and adopt a General Staff in place of the Joint Staff. Following World War II and the destruction of the German General Staff by the Nazi Party, the General Staff as an institution has been emotionally rejected in the United States without a careful historical and legal examination of how that institution operates under varying forms …

A Defense Perspective On A Reliable And Sustainable Supply Of Critical Minerals, Matthew D. Zolnowski

Canada-United States Law Journal

Canada-United States Law Institute 2022 Experts' Meeting

Imperialism In The Making Of U.S. Law, Nina Farnia

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article proceeds in two parts. In Part I, “U.S. Foreign Policy as Racial Policy,” I identify the four key policy pillars of U.S. imperialism: militarism, unilateral coercive measures, foreign aid, and the deployment of the dollar. I then pivot to a brief history of U.S. imperialism in the Middle East, highlighting the geographic and racial specificities that influence the ideological and legal contours of U.S. imperialism. I end this section with an analysis of The Public Report of the Vice President’s Task Force on Combatting Terrorism (1985), which was a defining document in the making of anti-terrorism law …

Trump V. Tiktok, Anupam Chander

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

How did a Chinese big tech company beat the president of the United States? When then-President Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok, ostensibly because of its Chinese roots, US courts came to TikTok's rescue. Rather than deferring to the president's claims of a national security emergency justifying the ban, courts held that the president lacked statutory authority to ban TikTok. This Article chronicles the Trump administration's attempt to either ban TikTok or to compel its sale to a "very American" company, preferably one led by a political ally. The TikTok affair thus demonstrates what Harold Koh calls the National Security …

Answering The Call: A History Of The Emergency Power Doctrine In Texas And The United States, P. Elise Mclaren

St. Mary's Law Journal

During times of emergency, national and local government may be allowed to take otherwise impermissible action in the interest of health, safety, or national security. The prerequisites and limits to this power, however, are altogether unknown. Like the crises they aim to deflect, courts’ modern emergency power doctrines range from outright denial of any power of constitutional circumvention to their flagrant use. Concededly, courts’ approval of emergency powers has provided national and local government opportunities to quickly respond to emergency without pause for constituency approval, but how can one be sure the availability of autocratic power will not be abused? …

Huawei Strikes Back: Challenging National Security Decisions Before Investment Arbitral Tribunals, Ming Du

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Ryan Nelson

American University National Security Law Brief

No abstract provided.

Book Review: This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race (2020) By Nicole Perlroth, Amy C. Gaudion

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

If You Think Ai Won't Eclipse Humanity, You're Probably Just A Human, Gary D. Brown

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Building machines that can replicate human thinking and behavior has fascinated people for hundreds of years. Stories about robots date from ancient history through da Vinci to the present. Whether designed to save labor or lives, to provide companionship or protection, loyal, capable, productive machines are a dream of humanity.

The modern manifestation of this interest in using human-like technology to advance social interests is artificial intelligence (AI). This is a paper about what that interest in AI means and how it might develop in the world of national security.

This abstract has been adapted from the author's introduction.

Deep Fakes: The Algorithms That Create And Detect Them And The National Security Risks They Pose, Nick Dunard

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

The dissemination of deep fakes for nefarious purposes poses significant national security risks to the United States, requiring an urgent development of technologies to detect their use and strategies to mitigate their effects. Deep fakes are images and videos created by or with the assistance of AI algorithms in which a person’s likeness, actions, or words have been replaced by someone else’s to deceive an audience. Often created with the help of generative adversarial networks, deep fakes can be used to blackmail, harass, exploit, and intimidate individuals and businesses; in large-scale disinformation campaigns, they can incite political tensions around the …

Criminalizing Material Support To Domestic Terrorist Organizations: A National Security Imperative, Jimmy Gurulé

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Learning From The Past: Using Korematsu And Other Japanese Internment Cases To Provide Protections Against Immigration Detentions, Caleb Ward

Arkansas Law Review

One of the darkest periods in modern United States history is reoccurring with mixed public approval. During World War II, the United States government enacted executive orders creating a curfew, proscribing living areas, and forcing the exclusion and detention of all Japanese descendants from the West Coast. The United States justified these grievous freedom and equality violations through an increased need for national security “because we [were] at war with [Japan].” However, this perceived increased need for national security came from a fraudulent assessment showing any Japanese-American could be planning espionage or sabotage of the United States. After the war, …

An Analysis Of Domestic And Foreign Legal Mechanisms To Counter The Rise Of White Nationalism, John C. Jankosky Ii

American University National Security Law Brief

No abstract provided.

The Capitol Riot, Racism And The Future Of American Democracy, Ryan T. Williams

American University National Security Law Brief

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Responsibility As Cooperation And Control: The Case Of Intelligence Agents, Raphael Bitton

American University National Security Law Brief

No abstract provided.

The Artemis Accords: Employing Space Diplomacy To De-Escalate A National Security Threat And Promote Space Commercialization, Elya A. Taichman

American University National Security Law Brief

No abstract provided.

Innovative Thinking: Modernizing Outer Space Governance, Diane M. Janosek

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Space security is essential to global safety and prosperity. International treaties should modernize and reflect the world’s innovation in space and governance needs. One must look back to 1967 for the inaugural “Outer Space Treaty,” the first and only binding multilateral agreement for peaceful space use and exploration. In 50 years, technologies and space capabilities have evolved; an updated global treaty and agreement should be developed and evaluated. Both China and Russia have demonstrated their capability to degrade and/or destroy adversaries’ satellites in space. Space wars are no longer a hypothetical. The future once discussed and anxiously anticipated after Sputnik …

Red Scare Or Red Herring: How The “China Initiative” Strategy For Non-Traditional Collectors Is Stifling Innovation In The United States, Bianca Tillman

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice launched the “China Initiative” in response to the growing economic and national security threat posed by China. The China Initiative is a sweeping federal plan designed, in part, to protect the United States’ status as a leader in global innovation and scientific discourse. The U.S. is justified in its concern over China’s unfair practices to achieve military, technological, and economic prominence. While U.S. and Chinese intelligence agencies have spied on each other for decades, China has increased both the scope and the sophistication of its efforts to steal secrets from the U.S. in …

Recent Developments, Peyton Hildebrand

Arkansas Law Review

In a 5-4 opinion, the United States Supreme Court once again denied a Bivens action. This case involved a tragic crossborder shooting by a border patrol agent standing on United States soil, who shot and killed a young boy standing on Mexican soil. Petitioners, the boy’s parents, sought relief under Biven2, arguing the agent’s action violated the Constitution. However, the Court determined the cross-border shooting was a new Bivens context, which required an analysis of whether any special factors “counseled hesitation” for the cause of action to be extended. The Court concluded Bivens was inappropriate because several factors “counseled hesitation”—namely, …

The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act: The Double-Edged Sword Of U.S. Foreign Investment Regulations, J. Russell Blakey

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Adapting U.S. Electronic Surveillance Laws, Policies, And Practices To Reflect Impending Technological Developments, Eric Manpearl

Catholic University Law Review

Intelligence collection must always evolve to meet technological developments. While the collection programs under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 have produced a great deal of valuable intelligence over the last decade, the United States must begin to think about foreseeable technological developments and strategically consider how to conduct signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection in the future.

This Article identifies four technological trends that could significantly impact the way the United States conducts SIGINT. Individuals now have access to sophisticated technologies that formerly only governments seemed capable of creating, and this decentralization of capabilities will likely only increase …