INSCT on Security

Post-Election Fiscal Choices, Economics and the Defense Budget

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 01:38:44 +0000

Over the next few weeks, the Administration and the Congress will be making key decisions regarding the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Program (FYDP), as well as our future tax structure.  With the elections in the rear view mirror, the outlines of the eventual resolution may not be readily apparent, but they are certainly clearer than […]

Looking at Rosa Brooks’ article “Shadow Wars: What’s the difference between a spook and a special operator?”

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:14:43 +0000

“Particularly since 9/11, the lines between the military and the intelligence community have gotten fuzzy,” observes Rosa Brooks, a Georgetown University Law Professor, on September 20, 2012 in an article entitled, “Shadow Wars: What’s the difference between a spook and a special operator?” in Foreign Policy Magazine. In our Prosecuting Terrorists course, we talk a great deal about the breakdown of […]

The International Law of Diplomacy and U.S. Embassy Attacks: Post-Arab Spring Transitions

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 17:53:26 +0000

Law of Diplomacy How—on the basis of what standard—do we frame our concerns about ongoing  U.S. Embassy attacks in Egypt, Libya, and beyond and their painful consequences?  What do these incidents portend—if anything—for U.S. relations with new governments, as well as broader strategic relations in the Middle East/North Arica (MENA) region? What is an appropriate […]

America’s Shi’a Problem

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:50:59 +0000

The Arab Spring has been the dominant narrative about the Middle East since February 2011. However, a deeper current runs to which the US must pay attention. That is of the Shi’a Crescent. The Shi’a Crescent informally consists of all the states whose concentration of Shi’a Muslims is greater than the global percentage of Shi’a, […]

Afghan Women and the Challenge of Empowerment

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:55:04 +0000

In a revealing interview last month Sahar Parniyan, a young Afghan woman described how she has had to leave her home in western Kabul to an unknown location after receiving death threats. Parniyan is an artist, famed for her athleticism and appearance in two Afghan television shows: Behsht-e-Khamosh and Wezarat Khana.[1] What encouraged Parniyan to […]

Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry: Rule of Law in Post-Conflict Resolution

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:24:01 +0000

 (First published on Jurist, 9/05/2012) On February 14, 2011, Bahrain joined the Arab Spring when thousands of protesters filled the streets, demanding economic reforms from King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and the government. Over the course of a month the scene worsened, as violence and police responses escalated. As the protests continued, a sectarian element […]

Options to Prevent a Nuclear Armed Iran

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:59:09 +0000

Determining U.S. policy toward Iran and its nuclear programs should begin with considering the way the Iranian leadership and people regard their effort to develop nuclear power and nuclear weapons.  The current leadership wants to remain in power, but they differ about how that is best accomplished.  Ahmadinejad does not determine policy.  To what extent […]

A Nuclear Iran, Redux

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:39:58 +0000

In his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush chastised Iran for its alleged attempts to produce weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.  The President named Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, as the “axis of evil.”  The growing possibility of a nuclear Iran meant that the geopolitical game in […]

Making Sense of Proxy Wars (Forward)

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:03:39 +0000

[This Forward was written by William C. Banks for the book “Making Sense of Proxy Wars – States, Surrogates & the Use of Force, edited by research & practice associate Michael A. Innes.] A persuasive argument may be made that the gravest threat facing nation- states today is not climate change, resource depletion, or catastrophic […]

Its Showtime: Prime Minister Gilani and the Supreme Court

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:26:07 +0000

On Thursday, April 26, 2012, at 9:35 in the morning, a seven-judge bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk found Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani guilty of Contempt of Court Ordinance (Ordinance 5 of 2003) of the Constitution. The conviction stems from the court finding that Gilani had violated article 204(2), which refers to abuse, inference or […]

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