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Autonomous Cyber Capabilities Below And Above The Use Of Force Threshold: Balancing Proportionality And The Need For Speed, Peter Margulies

International Law Studies

Protecting the cyber domain requires speedy responses. Mustering that speed will be a task reserved for autonomous cyber agents—software that chooses particular actions without prior human approval. Unfortunately, autonomous agents also suffer from marked deficits, including bias, unintelligibility, and a lack of contextual judgment. Those deficits pose serious challenges for compliance with international law principles such as proportionality.

In the jus ad bellum, jus in bello, and the law of countermeasures, compliance with proportionality reduces harm and the risk of escalation. Autonomous agent flaws will impair their ability to make the fine-grained decisions that proportionality entails. However, a …

Weapons Of Mass Distortion: Applying The Principles Of The Fcc’S News Distortion Doctrine To Undisclosed Financial Conflicts Of Interest In Corporate News Media’S Military Coverage, Charles L. Bonani

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

This Note offers a new conception of news distortion in mass media. It explores the intentions behind the FCC’s News Distortion Doctrine and analyzes its primarily dormant status throughout its existence. This Note then examines televised media coverage of U.S. military actions and identifies undisclosed financial conflicts of interests throughout this coverage. In examining these undisclosed conflicts and the reasons behind them, this Note explains why they constitute news distortion under the FCC’s definition, and why the principles behind the Doctrine are implicated. This Note then proposes the FCC promulgate a disclosure rule to remedy the undisclosed financial conflicts of …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Mission Command Of Multi-Domain Operations, Mark Balboni, John A. Bonin, Robert Mundell, Doug Orsi

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

This research monograph explores the Army’s emerging concept of multi-domain operations and its implications on the mission command approach. The transition to multi-domain operations changes the traditional view of how Army commanders and staffs conduct operations in the physical environment to include simultaneously operations in the information environment within the competition continuum.

This monograph will utilize the introduction of the aircraft during World War I as a historical case study for the integration of new domains. The Army has integrated new domains in the past and this example provides the historical context for the challenges involving integration of new domains. …

Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems: Translating Geek Speak For Lawyers, Linell A. Letendre

International Law Studies

This article provides an overview of robotics and autonomous systems so that attorneys can better understand the systems and design principles of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) that may be used in an armed conflict. Using the lens of establishing a common language between engineers and attorneys, the article introduces the basics of robotics terminology, explores how autonomous systems work by explaining control systems and control architecture, and examines how autonomous systems learn and reason. It also suggests a number of questions attorneys should ask engineers during the design process in order to ensure autonomous systems are designed in a …

A Policy Response To Islamic State Extremist Fighter Battlefield Migration, Robert J. Bunker Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

June 2014 to December 2017 represented the high tide of radical Islamist (Salafi-jihadist) territorial control under the authority of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. This monograph analyzes and provides policy response options for US national security and Army planners concerning the potential for postterritorial caliphate battlefield migration by the sizable contingent of battle-hardened Islamic State foreign fighters situated within various enclaves in Syria and Iraq. The monograph achieves these ends by

• discussing Islamic State territorial eras and demographics;
• offering an overview of the initial inflows of these fighters into the territorial caliphate, outflows to the United States, and …

Urban Warfare: Emerging Geopolitical Conundrum, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Urban warfare is as old as human history. It is becoming increasingly important in international political and military planning due to increasing global urbanization and the presence of megacities (urban areas with populations exceeding 10 million) in many global regions and being in areas of recent and potential military conflict. 2018 World Bank data notes that approximately 56% of the world's population lives in urban areas which is up from 34% in 1960. Many of these megacities, including New York City, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Shanghai, and Manila are adjacent to oceanic waters and vulnerable to trade and supply …

Book Reviews, Usawc Parameters

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Us Army And The Pacific: Legacies And Challenges, David M. Finkelstein

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The Indo-Pacific will loom large in the future of the US Army. The region is increasingly important to myriad US national interests and is a major playing field for great-power competition. As it deepens its Pacific orientation, the Army has a rich institutional and operational legacy to draw upon, as well as encouraging recent initiatives that auger well for its ability to support the Joint Force in this critical part of the world.

Disintegrating The Enemy: The Pla’S Info-Messaging, Jacqueline N. Deal

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The DoD can exploit weaknesses in Chinese military attempts at political warfare, or “enemy disintegration,” most recently observed in PLA media on the subject of the pandemic. Targeted information efforts will signal the United States’ refusal to be intimidated, expose untruths in Chinese government messaging to its citizens, and reassure relevant third parties of US military resolve.

Technology And Strategic Surprise: Adapting To An Era Of Open Innovation, Audrey Kurth Cronin

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Technological revolutions affecting state power are either open or closed. The precursor to the digital age is not the twentieth century, with state-controlled programs yielding nuclear weapons, but the late nineteenth century, when tinkerers invented the radio, airplane, and high explosives—all crucial to subsequent wars. To avoid strategic surprise, the US government must take a broader view of how today’s open innovation is changing society and adapt.

Training Better Arab Armies, Michael J. Eisenstadt, Kenneth M. Pollack

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

US security force assistance missions to Arab partner states have had limited success, due in part to a tendency to impose American doctrine, which embodies American cultural values and norms, on Arab armed forces. Accordingly, US security force assistance missions should train Arab partners to fight in a manner better suited to their own cultural preferences and operational requirements.

Enduring Information Vigilance: Government After Covid-19, Nina Jankowicz, Henry Collis

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The framework of Enduring Information Vigilance will help ally and partner governments deny advantages adversaries gain through their use of information operations in our new global perpetual information environment. This approach recognizes the persistent threat, unifies responses within and between governments, and resolves societal fissures toward a more global democratic information environment.

Parameters Autumn: 2020, Usawc Parameters

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Covid-19 Enemy Is Still Advancing, Ryan J. Scott, Odelle J. Means, Patricia M. Shields

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The US military has a historical precedence for dealing with a pandemic while simultaneously conducting large-scale combat operations. Two twentieth-century examples assess the extent to which the military adapted operations following an influenza outbreak, and make clear military and civilian leaders must balance strategic objectives when facing threat multipliers such as COVID-19.

A Bizarre Pair: Counterinsurgency Lessons For Cyber Conflict, Jason Healey

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The lessons of counterinsurgency have deeper implications for cyber conflict than previous research has identified. Two decades of experience in Iraq and Afghanistan provide insights into the cyber strategy of defending forward including treating major cybersecurity and technology companies as host-nation partners and focusing on winning the hearts and minds of global netizens.

Publicly Accessible National Security Information Resources: An Untapped Treasure Trove, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This presentation demonstrates the wide variety of publicly accessible U.S. Government national security information resources. It includes information on the U.S. constitutional foundations of national security policy, a recent annual defense spending bill, documents from the White House/National Security Council, Department of Defense, various military branches including professional military educational institutions, assorted U.S. intelligence agencies, congressional legislation, congressional committee reports on legislation, congressional committee hearings, and reports from congressional support agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office. It concludes by stressing the multiple benefits provided by having public access to these information resources.

Rise And Fall? The Rise And Fall Of Isis In Libya, Azeem Ibrahim

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

This monograph places events in Libya since 2011 into their historical and social context and argues a form of radical Islamism, linked to long-standing national defiance of outside control, remains a factor even after the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This entrenched radicalism means extremist Islamist groups may still make a renewed bid for power until the current civil war is resolved. At the time of this writing, the military campaign by the Libyan National Army has stalled outside Tripoli. Now is the time for the United States and the wider international community to step …

Release Of A Detained Warship And Its Crew Through Provisional Measures: A Comparative Analysis Of The Ara Libertad And Ukraine V. Russia Cases, Yoshifumi Tanaka

International Law Studies

The determination of whether to release a detained foreign warship and its crew is a crucial issue in law and in practice. This article examines the issue of the release of a detained foreign warship and its crewmembers through provisional measures by analyzing the ARA Libertad and Ukraine v. Russia cases. Specifically three issues must be examined. The first issue concerns the interpretation of military activities under Article 298(1)(b) of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). On this issue, this article highlights that a threshold for deciding the preponderance of military or law enforcement elements is …

Multilateralism, Pushback, And Prospects For Global Engagement?, Michael Donald Kirby The Honourable

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

In this article, the author draws on long engagement with multilateralism, both in domestic jurisdiction and international institutions. He describes the growth of post-War United Nations activities and the increasing impact of international law, including on universal human rights. He records international initiatives on global problems like HI V/AIDS and in individual countries, such as Cambodia and North Korea. He then describes recent examples of '"pushback" against multilateralism, especially on the part of the United States, the United Kingdom, some European countries, and Australia. He concludes with illustrations and reasons why the global community should remain optimistic about multilateralism, despite …

Temporary Protection Status: A Yugoslavian Precedent, Medina Dzubur

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Analyzing the past use of temporary protection status to shield those facing "ethnic cleansing, massacres, mass rapes, and cultural vandalism" is fundamental in understanding how this tool can be utilized to protect modern refugees, and why EU members have refused to implement this status further. In other words, should temporary protection status, considering the legal framework and the socioeconomic effects, be granted to Syrian refugees? This note argues in favor of granting temporary protection status to Syrian refugees because the status (1) offers a recourse for displaced persons that would not be covered by traditional legal protections, (2) produces quicker …

The Dangers Of Humanitarian Intervention And The Responsibility To Protect Doctrine, And A Partial Solution, Matthew Bellinger

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

When the United Nations (UN) was formed, one of its most important goals was to render war obsolete. The UN Charter states as a goal the hope to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." When President Franklin D. Roosevelt first described his vision for a post-World War II international organization, he envisioned an organization that would promote and facilitate "international cooperation . . . to consider and deal with the problem of world relations." He also wanted a council that would "concern itself with peaceful settlement of international disputes." The UN Charter itself took the then-unprecedented step of …

National, Military, And College Reports On Prosecution Of Sexual Assaults And Victims' Rights (White Paper), David A. Schlueter, Lisa Schenck

Faculty Articles

In response to recent calls for major reforms to the American military justice system, which are apparently based on continuing Congressional concerns about sexual assaults in the military, the authors present statistical data on sexual assaults from a number of sources: national crime statistics; military crime statistics; crime statistics from several states, and statistics from a university. The authors also present information on the tremendous strides that have been made in recent years to protect the rights of military victims of sexual assault, noting that some of those rights are not found in federal or state criminal justice systems. Finally, …

Preparing The Public For A Contested Election, Deborah Pearlstein

Online Publications

While perhaps once thought too far-fetched to discuss out loud in serious company, concerns that Donald Trump will refuse to leave office even if he loses the November election have gained increasing mainstream attention in recent months. Indeed, it would be foolish to assume that such a possibility is out of the question. The president has spent the past four years making clear his desire to remain more than two terms in office, and has worked especially diligently of late to lay the rhetorical groundwork for declaring the results of the federal election – particularly one reliant on absentee voting …

Key Strategic Issues List (Ksil) 2021-2022, Steve Cunningham

Articles & Editorials

New for Academic Years 2021-2022, the USAWC has published an updated Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL). The KSIL informs students, faculty, and external research associates of strategic topics requiring research and analysis. The USAWC in coordination with Headquarters Department of the Army (HQDA), major commands throughout the Army, and the joint and interagency community has updated the Army's priorities for strategic analysis to address issues in the emerging strategic environment and to align with elements of the current Army Vision and Army Strategy. The USAWC will continue to address select topics as Integrated Research Projects and through other research efforts. …

Key Strategic Issues List (Ksil) 2021–2022, Steve Cunningham

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

New for Academic Years 2021-2022, the USAWC has published an updated Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL). The KSIL informs students, faculty, and external research associates of strategic topics requiring research and analysis. The USAWC in coordination with Headquarters Department of the Army (HQDA), major commands throughout the Army, and the joint and interagency community has updated the Army's priorities for strategic analysis to address issues in the emerging strategic environment and to align with elements of the current Army Vision and Army Strategy. The USAWC will continue to address select topics as Integrated Research Projects and through other research efforts. …

American Military Justice: Retaining The Commander's Authority To Enforce Discipline And Justice, David A. Schlueter, Lisa Schenck

Faculty Articles

This white paper recommends that Congress reject proposals that would remove a commander’s prosecutorial discretion and instead place it in the hands of senior armed forces lawyers. There are currently two proposed legislative provisions that would adversely affect the commander’s prosecutorial discretion and undermine the commander’s ability to enforce good order and discipline. The first proposed provision was included in Section 540F of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, where Congress mandated that the Department of Defense report to the congressional armed services committees on the feasibility of creating a pilot program that would remove a commander’s authority to prefer, …

Complicity In The Perversion Of Justice: The Role Of Lawyers In Eroding The Rule Of Law In The Third Reich, Cynthia Fountaine

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

A fundamental tenet of the legal profession is that lawyers and judges are uniquely responsible—individually and collectively—for protecting the Rule of Law. This Article considers the failings of the legal profession in living up to that responsibility during Germany’s Third Reich. The incremental steps used by the Nazis to gain control of the German legal system—beginning as early as 1920 when the Nazi Party adopted a party platform that included a plan for a new legal system—turned the legal system on its head and destroyed the Rule of Law. By failing to uphold the integrity and independence of the profession, …

El Dilema Democrático De La Refrendación Directa De Los Acuerdos De Paz [The Democratic Dilemma Of The Popular Ratification Of Peace Agreements], Jorge Luis Fabra-Zamora

Journal Articles

En este ensayo se explora el “dilema democrático” que surge en la refrendación directa de los acuerdos de paz, es decir, en las consultas adelantadas para que la ciudadanía apruebe o rechace el convenio alcanzado por las partes para la terminación de un conflicto. El dilema presenta dos cuernos, por un lado, es necesario que la comunidad afectada por el acuerdo lo refrende para su legitimidad y viabilidad, y por el otro lado, que los mecanismos democráticos de consulta directa tienen serias dificultades para adelantar tal refrendación. El objetivo principal de este estudio es proporcionar una caracterización del dilema que …

Beyond Human Shielding: Civilian Risk Exploitation And Indirect Civilian Targeting, Geoffrey S. Corn

International Law Studies

Few violations of the law of armed conflict (LOAC) are as pernicious as using civilians to shield military objectives from attack. This unlawful tactic unfortunately seems to be an all too common practice of organized armed groups, especially in conflicts against tactically superior conventional state armed forces. The very term "human shielding" presupposes, however, the ultimate objective is to prevent an opponent from attacking the shielded military objective or, in the alternative, substantially complicate that attack decision. But is a shielding effect always the ultimate objective of such civilian exploitation? This article argues that the answer is no; that there …