“'Many of the remaining cases are so hard. Reducing the population through individual transfers makes the remainder problem smaller, but not very much easier,' said Matthew Waxman, a professor at Columbia University Law School. 'Is the Biden administration prepared to move [Khalid Sheikh Mohammed] and other 9/11 plotters and al Qaeda leaders into the United States? If so, they might be able to close Guantanamo, but they need a solution for those high-profile cases...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

"Furthermore, from a constitutional hygiene perspective, it is discomforting to see decades-old force authorizations remain valid law. As Matthew Waxman has pointed out, there is even a 1957 AUMF on the books that is just now becoming the focus of possible repeal as well. For these reasons, the repeal of the Iraq AUMF(s) should not be dismissed as an undeserving endeavor—a proactive Congress interested in overseeing military conflict should be applauded. Just don’t expect this action alone to do much to [...]

"Cyberattacks on public and private entities in the U.S. occur every 39 seconds. The Microsoft Digital Defense Report for 2020 found that most attacks by nation states come from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. "But lack of transparency is a major challenge when it comes to holding these nations accountable through international law. "'It's much, much harder to penetrate what's going on with an adversary's cyber capabilities,' Matthew Waxman, an expert in international law and cybersecurity with the Council on [...]

"Without a cyberwar to set precedent, Waxman said nations must blaze their own trails when navigating this new territory. When interpreting what constitutes an offensive attack, Waxman said the intent to cause damage serves as one signal on an operational level. Beyond that, the line between espionage and warfare becomes blurred..." Read the full article here: Full Article

"The prospect of a contested presidential election, including premature claims of victory—or worse, one in which President Trump deliberately foils a clear outcome against him—rightly has people worried. It’s a reminder that some structural aspects of the U.S. presidential election system, like its decentralization and long transition period between election and inauguration, can be major liabilities. It’s also a reminder of how much the system depends on candidates’ commitment to certain principles and to the system itself..." Read the full article [...]

"In case what is missing from your life is a series of video lectures breaking down national security law topics, we are here to help! "During our summers under COVID lockdown, we finally had time—and extra reason—to act on a project we've talked about for years: developing and recording together a set of U.S. national security law video lectures. These videos are intended for use by students, teachers, practitioners, journalists, or anyone who just wants to know about this stuff..." Learn [...]

"Columbia’s Waxman told Inside Cybersecurity that 'foreign disinformation campaigns remain a huge threat and the United States is still working to develop the tools to combat them.' "Waxman said, 'One reason why it's hard to combat disinformation through regulation is because while we need to protect our democracy from foreign interference, in our democratic system we don't generally believe the government should be policing speech and expression...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

"This year marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. Though often called the 'Forgotten War,' the Korean War has highly conditioned much of our contemporary international politics in East Asia, and the people of Korea continue to live with its aftermath, both in the north and in the south. And the shadow of the Korean War looms large over something we often debate on Lawfare—war powers. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the U.S. entry into the [...]