National Security Law Commons^™

The Danger In Designations: U.S. Terrorism Designation Lists In Gaza And Beyond, Elizabeth Beavers

American University National Security Law Brief

What is “terrorism”? The term has surged in U.S. political discourse following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel’s subsequent onslaught of Gaza, and escalating violence in the region involving Iran and similarly aligned groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis. U.S. politicians and thought leaders have characterized U.S. support for Israel’s bombardment as a fight against “terror,” described the violence conducted by Palestinians and their backers as “terrorism,” and accused pro-Palestinian U.S. protestors of “supporting terrorism.”

More than mere political rhetoric, “terrorism” is a term that carries big legal consequences. This is in large part because the U.S. …

Rightly Dividing Jus Ad Bellum And Jus In Bello In The Israel/Hamas War, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

The purpose of this paper is to: (1) review the applicable rule of law as it relates to both the initiation of warfare and the use of armed force in the execution of that warfare; and (2) apply those legal standards to the facts associated with the Israel/Hamas conflict. While this may seem an easy task – to set out unanimity in the international community – it is not. The inability to set bright lines of distinction between aggressors and those acting in self-defense is not just a failure in definition or even understanding, it is a failure to legitimize …

Book Reviews, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Spring 2024 issue of Parameters. Readers will note a few differences in the formatting for this issue: we are now using endnotes instead of footnotes to facilitate switching from pdf to html via Adobe's Liquid App; also, readers will be able to click on each endnote number to view the full endnote and then switch back to the text to resume reading. Please drop us a note to let us know how you like the changes. More are coming!

Parameters Spring 2024, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

International Law, Self-Defense, And The Israel-Hamas Conflict, Eric A. Heinze

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article examines the international law of self-defense as it applies to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict to determine whether the October 2023 attacks by Hamas against Israel can be interpreted under Article 51 of the UN Charter as an “armed attack” that gives Israel the right to use military force in self-defense against non-state actors. It situates the conflict within ongoing legal and political debates, shows how this conflict fits into a changing global reality where the most dangerous security threats do not exclusively emanate from other states and concludes that Israel’s resort to force in the current conflict appears …

Moscow In The Middle East, W. Andrew Terrill

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Defining Critical Infrastructure For A Global Application, Colleen M. Newbill

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

A Google search for the phrase "critical infrastructure" turns up 189 million results in little more than a half second: ''global critical infrastructure" has 151 million results; and "definition of critical infrastructure" yields 71.5 million results. The list of what industries and sectors fall under the critical infrastructure designation expands as time progresses and technology develops. As the threat of cyberattacks increases and this frontier of terrorism continues to emerge, attacks on critical infrastructure are high on the list of concerns and the need for protective measures imperative. The focus on protecting critical infrastructure does not stop at the borders …

Framing Israel: The U.N. Commission Of Inquiry On The Spring 2018 Gaza Border Confrontations, Peter Margulies, Geoffrey S. Corn

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Failure Of International Law In Palestine, Svetlana Sumina, Steven Gilmore

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

Gaza 2014: Israel's Attrition Vs Hamas' Exhaustion, Eitan Shamir, Eado Hecht

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Gaza 2014: Hamas' Strategic Calculus, Glenn E. Robinson

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Democracy's Struggle Against Terrorism: The Powers Of Military Commanders To Decide Upon The Demolition Of Houses, The Imposition Of Curfews, Blockades, Encirclements And The Declaration Of An Area As A Closed Military Area, Emanuel Gross

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

After The Aumf, Jennifer Daskal

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Over a dozen years later, the AUMF — which has never been amended — remains the principal source of the U.S. government’s domestic legal authority to use military force against al Qaeda and its associates, both on the battlefields of Afghanistan and far beyond. But even as the statutory framework has remained unchanged, the facts on the ground have evolved dramatically, leading some to call for a new AUMF. In short, calls for a new framework statute to replace the AUMF are unnecessary, provocative, and counterproductive; they perpetuate war at a time when we should be seeking to end it. …

Anticipatory Self-Defense And The Israeli-Iranian Crisis: Some Remarks, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Deference Or Abdication: A Comparison Of The Supreme Courts Of Israel And The United States In Cases Involving Real Or Perceived Threats To National Security, Eileen Kaufman

Scholarly Works

The Supreme Courts of Israel and the United States treat cases involving national security radically differently, or so it appears on the surface. The fact that the two courts make very different use of justiciability doctrines dramatically affects their willingness to decide “war on terrorism” cases that challenge aspects of national security programs as violative of individual rights. On the surface, the approaches of the two courts thus appear to be radically different, and indeed they are, at least with respect to their willingness to hear and decide cases in “real time” and in terms of their willingness to embrace …

Making Fiction Of Facts In The Israeli Spy Case, Kenneth Lasson, Angelo Codevilla, Lawrence J. Korb, John Loftus

All Faculty Scholarship

The authors make the case that Jonathan Pollard, the man convicted of spying for Israel, is again being condemned by new allegations by Martin Peretz in a New Republic article, and by retired Navy Capt. M. E. Bowman. The authors of these new assertions may not know more of the particulars than others in high places who have already publicly supported commuting Pollard's sentence to time served.

No More 'Sha Still', Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

This op-ed laments the consequences of staying quiet in light of recent national and international events. It takes President Obama to task for blaming Israel for lack of progress in Middle East peace negotiations, as well as Congress for its ineptitude during the recent national debt ceiling negotiations.

Let My People Go!, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

This short article discusses the continued imprisonment of Jonathan Pollard for spying for Israel, as well as that of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, imprisoned by Hamas. Also discussed are the inequalities of the negotiations for their release, leaving Israel and the U.S. in a bad light.

The Nuclear (And The) Holocaust: Israel, Iran, And The Shadows Of Auschwitz, Shmuel Nili

Journal of Strategic Security

The main thesis of this article is that the Holocaust is indispensable for understanding Israel’s treatment of what it perceives as the greatest current threat to its security - the Iranian nuclear program. The Holocaust’s impact deviates in crucial ways from established teaching regarding balance of power in general and nuclear deterrence in particular. Mutually Assured Destruction, the distinction between capabilities and intentions, and even linkage politics - all of those basic concepts are profoundly altered in the Israeli case by the (often conscious) presence of the Holocaust. The Holocaust’s influence is evident in the Israeli belief that deterring Iran …

Classification Of Participants In Suicide Attacks And The Implications Of This Classification On The Severity Of The Sentence: The Israeli Experience In The Military Courts In Judea And Samaria As A Model To Other Nations, Amit Preiss, Chagai D. Vinizky

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jews In Jail, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Pollard Languishes, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

"Change Direction" 2006: Israeli Operations In Lebanon And The International Law Of Self-Defense, Michael N. Schmitt

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article explores and assesses the Israeli justification for Operation Change Direction. Did the law of self-defense provide a basis for the operation? If so, defense against whom-Hezbollah, the State of Lebanon, or both? Were the Israeli actions consistent with the criteria for a lawful defensive action: necessity, proportionality, and immediacy? Did Operation Change Direction unlawfully breach Lebanese territorial integrity?

Passover And Jonathan Pollard, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Legislative And Policy Responses To Terrorism, A Global Perspective, Amos N. Guiora

San Diego International Law Journal

While Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, would strike most Americans as the starting date for terrorism- at least as understood by a recently attacked America- the truth is very different both from the American and international perspective. The scope and intensity of the attack that Tuesday morning dramatically changed the American response to terrorism in the short-term and long-term. The change in America's response has impacted the American political debate, its way of life, and its legal and policy perspectives regarding terrorism and counter-terrorism alike. September 11 also had a global impact from an operational, intelligence-gathering, policy and legal perspective. …

Sounds Of Silence, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Be Reasonable! Thoughts On The Effectiveness Of State Criticism In Enforcing International Law, Michael Y. Kieval

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note examines the effectiveness of diplomatic criticism in enforcing international law, particularly in the counter-terrorism (or anti-insurgency) context. It is not concerned with determining what international law does or does not "in fact" allow States to do in combating terrorism and other existential threats.

Checks And Balances In Wartime: American British And Israeli Experiences, Stephen J. Schulhofer

Michigan Law Review

Three years after an attack that traumatized the nation and prompted massive military and law-enforcement counter-measures, we continue to wrestle with the central dilemma of the rule of law. Which is more to be feared - the danger of unchecked executive and military power, or the danger of terrorist attacks that only an unconstrained executive could prevent? Posed in varying configurations, the question has already generated extensive litigation since September 11, 2001, and a dozen major appellate rulings. Last Term's Supreme Court trilogy - Rasul v. Bush, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Rumsfeld v. Padilla - clarified several important points …

It's Time To Be Fair To Jonathan Pollard, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.