The Just Security Podcast
Just Security is an online forum for the rigorous analysis of national security, foreign policy, and rights. We aim to promote principled solutions to problems confronting decision-makers in the United States and abroad. Our expert authors are individuals with significant government experience, academics, civil society practitioners, individuals directly affected by national security policies, and other leading voices.
Episodes
92 episodes
Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Oleksandra Matviichuk on Accountability in Russia’s War Against Ukraine
Oleksandra Matviichuk is one of the leading lawyers and human rights advocates pushing for accountability for grave crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In 2007, Oleksandra founded the Center for Civil Liberties, which she stil...
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Episode 92
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40:18
Russia’s Program of Coerced Adoption of Ukraine’s Children
Among the many war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine are large-scale efforts to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. Thousands of children have already been taken to Russian camps and fa...
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Episode 91
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39:10
A Major Breakthrough Towards a Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity
On November 22, the United Nations General Assembly’s legal arm, the Sixth Committee, adopted a resolution paving the way for negotiations on a first-ever treaty on preventing and punishing crimes against humanity. The resolution comes after ye...
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Episode 90
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33:56
Could Ecocide Become a New International Crime?
Earlier this fall, three Pacific Island States – Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa – formally proposed adding ecocide as a crime that can be heard and punished by the International Criminal Court, which can currently try individuals for war crimes, crim...
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Episode 89
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49:06
‘The Presidents and the People’ Book Talk
With the U.S. presidential election less than a week away, anxiety is high, both across the country and around the world. Many fear the rise of populism and the erosion of democratic norms. In over two centuries, the United States has had many ...
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Episode 88
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54:38
Persons with Disabilities, the Slave Trade, and International Law
For five years, Christopher Smith, a man with intellectual disabilities, was forced to work 100 hours per week at a South Carolina restaurant without pay. Smith faced verbal and physical abuse at the hands of his employer. Around the world, per...
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Episode 87
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27:15
The Spread of Political Propaganda on Encrypted Messaging Apps
During this year’s election season in Mexico, propagandists leveraged a new mass-broadcasting feature on WhatsApp, called “channels,” to impersonate reputable political news outlets and pump out misleading information. Thousands of miles away, ...
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Episode 86
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32:44
Assessing the Origins, Dynamics, and Future of Conflict in Sudan
The conflict in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, primarily involves the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. While the fig...
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Episode 85
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1:18:52
Key Trends and Takeaways from the 2024 U.N. General Assembly’s High-Level Week
More than 130 world leaders just completed a week of meetings in New York for the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly. This high-level week, as it’s called, began with States adopting U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' "...
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Episode 84
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38:17
A New Guide to International Law and Military Activities in Outer Space
Earlier this month, a SpaceX mission called Polaris Dawn launched four civilians into outer space. The crew completed the first ever “commercial spacewalk” while floating more than 800 miles above the Earth’s surface. But private companies aren...
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Episode 83
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58:27
What to Expect from the 2024 U.N. General Assembly
Next week, world leaders from nearly 150 nations will meet in New York for the annual high-level week during the United Nations General Assembly’s new session. Among the many topics for discussion will be the ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and ...
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Episode 82
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33:19
Strategic Risks of AI and Recapping the 2024 REAIM Summit
From gathering and analyzing information to battlefield operations, States are integrating AI into a range of military and intelligence operations. Gaza and Ukraine are battle labs for this new technology. But many questions remain about whethe...
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Episode 81
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29:11
Assessing the Recent Response of International Law and Institutions in Palestine and Israel
The situation in Israel and Palestine raises some of the most complex and contested issues in international law. In the past few years, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and a U.N.-backed Independent Commissi...
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Episode 80
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2:19:03
How Can the U.S. Address Political Violence and Threats?
From the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, political violence in the United States is on the minds of many around the country and around the world. As the 2024 election draws closer, now is a...
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Episode 79
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34:08
Assessing the Laws of War
At their core, the laws of war seek to preserve humanity in the most difficult conditions. As Dr. Cordula Droege, the chief legal officer and head of the legal division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (or ICRC) recently wrote fo...
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Episode 78
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57:52
The Evolution of U.S. Hostage Policy
August this year marks 10 years since the shocking execution of American freelance journalist James Foley at the hands of ISIS amid the war in Syria in 2014. His videotaped decapitation was the first of a spree of ISIS beheadings, including sev...
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Episode 77
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1:02:19
An Innovative Lawsuit Links Social Media Companies to Mass Shootings
In November 2021, a teenager in rural Texas downloaded the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and quickly became obsessed. He began to research weapons from the game, including a military-grade assault rifle. The company that manu...
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Episode 76
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37:35
NATO's Washington Summit: Russia's War on Ukraine Tests Alliance
This week, leaders from across the Euro-Atlantic region met in Washington, D.C., for the annual NATO Summit. The security pact turned 75 this year, and its 32 members are facing challenges on multiple fronts, from Russia’s continuing bombardmen...
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Episode 75
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33:29
Presidential Immunity After Trump v. United States
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Trump v. United States, finding that former presidents have “absolute immunity” for certain “official acts” taken while in office. The decision is a potentially sweeping expansio...
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Episode 74
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1:09:24
ICC Arrest Warrants for Russian Attacks on Ukraine’s Power Grid
On June 24, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two top Russian officials for wa...
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Episode 73
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31:30
Attacks on Health in Armed Conflict
The latest annual report from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition identif...
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Episode 72
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1:01:40
Protecting Cultural Heritage During Armed Conflict
Just over two years ago, Russian forces fired a missile that destroyed a museum complex in Ukraine. The attack decimated the home of 18th-century Ukrainian philosopher and poet Hryhorii Skovoroda. Hundreds of years after his death, Skovoroda is...
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Episode 71
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14:54
'The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence' Book Talk
Borders between countries are often dangerous, violent places. From the sands of the Sahel to the islands of the Mediterranean, borders allow governments to define who can enter a country – often deciding whether a person can find refuge or is ...
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Episode 70
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31:51
A Landmark Court Opinion on the Ocean and Climate Change
Last week, an international court issued a major decision that could impact how nations around the world address climate change and protect the ocean. On May 21, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), also known ...
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Episode 69
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25:48
Courtroom Views from Inside Trump’s New York Criminal Trial
We are over a month into former President Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial. The prosecution and defense have each presented their cases, and a Manhattan jury will soon decide whether Trump broke the law and interfered in the 2016 election...
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Episode 68
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49:23