In association with the International Commission of Jurists

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03 May

Often used to model legislative politics, positive political theory (PPT) has core insights that can be applied to the journal submissions process as well. There are important differences between the legislative and editorial processes. Like legislative action, however, editors' deliberations and voting on submissions are a process of aggregating preferences within the constraints of voting rules and other institutional features....

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02 May

Cross-posted at Balkinization For all the interesting things that might be said about the still-emerging circumstances of bin Laden’s death, it’s disheartening to see conversation already turning to old, old debates about interrogation. Peter King (R-N.Y.) was naturally quick to suggest that reports that information leading to bin Laden’s capture came from detainees held at Guantanamo Bay should lead Obama...

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02 May

The killing of Osama Bin Laden is no doubt a significant victory in the conflict with al Qaeda (see Michael Lewis' post here).  However, contrary to Peter Bergen's assertion that "Killing bin Laden is the end of the war on terror. There is no one to replace him in Al Qaeda. Bin Laden was the guy who fought against...

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02 May

Over at Lawfare Ben Wittes aks Will Bin Laden's Death Reignite the Interrogation Debate? I think there is little doubt that it will. Consider this recent post by Marc Thiessen over at The American Enterprise blog.  Thiessen writes: "So Guantanamo detainees provided the key intelligence that allowed the CIA to track down bin Laden. But not just any Guantanamo detainees. It turns...

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02 May

It is interesting comparing this mornings posts. Ken's sober, philosophical reflection on all that has gone on since 9/11, Kevin's reflexive response to view events through a political lens, and Greg's operationally-minded quest for figuring out "who's next, and when will we get him?" My reaction contained elements of all three. Having friends that died in Afghanistan trying to...

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02 May

The media is reporting that the Obama administration is handling Usama bin Laden's remains in accordance with Islamic principles.  That decision is a stark reminder of why we are so fortunate that a Republican is no longer President.  When the Bush administration killed Uday and Qusay Hussein, recall, it infuriated Muslims and at least arguably violated the First Additional Protocol...

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01 May

Beyond confirming that Bin Laden was actually the person killed in Abottabad, what is the significance of troops being on the ground to conduct the Bin Laden Operation?  Can their presence lead us to the new #1 in al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri? In the coming days we will likely hear about the gathering of "pocket litter" and other exploitable intelligence and...

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01 May

Thanks to OJ for allowing me to guest blog for a bit.  I'm a law professor at Pepperdine, specializing in national security law and policy. First off, there is a lot of talk about this operation being a "human operation" involving special operations forces.  Some readers may assume that this meant there were no air assets involved (e.g. no Predators and...

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01 May

I'm sure most readers are aware that President Obama is about to announce that Osama Bin Laden has been killed, in a mansion outside of Islamabad, Pakistan.  I'm just going to leave this as an open thread.  I'm not quite sure what the international law aspects of this will turn out to be, as we have no details at this...

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