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Prior to the U.S. attacks that dislodged president Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, American forces have for weeks been blockading U.S.-sanctioned ships carrying Venezuelan oil. In mid-December, the United States began boarding, and seizing, tankers in the so‑called “shadow fleet” that move sanctioned oil across the globe, starting with stateless vessels. In a dramatic turn, this week the U.S. Coast Guard, with U.S. and allied military support, intercepted and boarded two Russian-flagged oil tankers in international waters, prompting protests from Moscow. Can the U.S. lawfully board and seize Russian‑flagged merchant ships? What does international maritime law, and the law of naval warfare, have to say about actions like these? To unpack the legal and geopolitical stakes, host Tess Bridgeman speaks with Rob McLaughlin, professor at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security and the ANU College of Law, who previously served as both a Seaman officer and Legal officer in the Royal Australian Navy, including in senior roles such as Fleet Legal Officer, Strategic Legal Adviser, Director of Operations and International Law, and Director of the Naval Legal Service.  Show Note:  Elizabeth Hutton, Maritime Law Enforcement on the High Seas: Authority, Jurisdiction, and the Seizure of The Skipper An Expert Backgrounder (Dec. 22, 2025)Rob McLaughlin and Connor McLaughlin, Was the Visit and Seizure of the Skipper off the Coast of Venezuela Lawful? (Dec. 17, 2025)See also Question 31 in Tess Bridgeman, Michael Schmitt, and Ryan Goodman, Expert Q&A on the U.S. Boat Strikes (Dec. 13, 2025)Michael Schmitt and Rob McLaughlin, Blockading Venezuela: The International Law Consequences (Dec. 18, 2025)Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman, International Law and the U.S. Military and Law Enforcement Operations in Venezuela (Jan. 4, 2026)Just Security’s Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve  

The Combating Global Corruption Act marks a new chapter in how the U.S. approaches corruption abroad. For the first time, the State Department must publicly rank foreign governments based on their anti-corruption efforts–evaluations that may carry real consequences for foreign aid, diplomacy, and sanctions. Yet the rollout comes at a moment of contradiction. As the United States positions itself to evaluate corruption abroad, it is facing an erosion of accountability mechanisms at home. In this episode, Dani Schulkin is joined by former State Department officials Sky Miller and Adam Keith about the promises and pitfalls of the act, and what this tension reveals about America’s ability to lead and enforce anti-corruption efforts worldwide.  Show Note:  “Global Corruption, Local Hypocrisy: The Promises and Pitfalls of the U.S. Combating Global Corruption Act” by Schuyler Miller and Adam Keith (December 9, 2025) When the Guardrails Erode Series by Dani Schulkin, Amy Markopolous, and Maya Nir 

The Trump administration has continued its campaign of lethal strikes against suspected drug traffickers at sea. To date, 83 people have reportedly been killed in 21 strikes. The strikes have met increasing scrutiny both inside the United States and abroad, with some close U.S. allies reportedly suspending intelligence sharing over concerns of the illegality of the campaign, and recently surfaced reporting of the deliberate killing of two strike survivors receiving rare bipartisan attention from Congress.  On the fourth installment of the Murder on the High Seas series, cross-posted with NYU Law School’s Reiss Center on Law and Security, co-hosts Tess Bridgeman and Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane to discuss the latest developments.  Show Note:  Murder on the High Seas Part III  (Oct. 21, 2025, also available on YouTube) Murder on the High Seas Part II — What We Know about U.S. Vessel Strikes One Month In (Oct. 7, 2025, also available on YouTube)Murder on the High Seas? What You Need to Know about the U.S. Strike on the Caribbean Vessel (Sep. 9, 2025, also available on YouTube)Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors: An Expert Backgrounder by Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman, and Tess Bridgeman (Dec. 1, 2025) Timeline of Vessel Strikes and Related Actions by Jeremy Chin, Margaret Lin, and Aidan Arasasingham (Nov. 21, 2025, updated regularly)  Just Security’s Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers The NYU Law Reiss Center on Law and Security’s War Powers Resolution Reporting Project 

Across the world, we’re witnessing a transformation in how corruption operates. It’s not just about individual bribery or isolated misconduct. In many places, powerful actors are reshaping state institutions themselves— weakening oversight, insulating allies from consequences, and redirecting public power toward private gain. This deeper structural transformation is often called state capture, and it has altered political systems from South Africa to Guatemala to Sri Lanka.  What is this form of corruption? How does it impact human rights? How can it be countered?  On this episode of the Just Security Podcast, Host Dani Schulkin is joined by Naomi Roht-Arriaza, Distinguished Professor of Law at UC Hastings and anti-corruption expert, to discuss the warning signs of this type of corruption, how the United States is showing worrying parallels, and what can be done to push back against it.  Show Notes:   “Is the U.S. Becoming a Captured State? A Comparative Perspective,” by Naomi Roht-Arriaza on Just Security“When Guardrails Erode” Series by Dani Schulkin, Amy Markopolous, and Maya Nir on Just Security“The Anti-Corruption Tracker: Mapping the Erosion of Oversight and Accountability,” by Dani Schulkin, Amy Markopolous, and Maya Nir on Just SecurityFighting Grand Corruption: Transnational and Human Rights Approaches in Latin America and Beyond by Naomi Roht-Arriaza

On Nov. 13, the Trump administration took the unprecedented step of adding four groups in Europe to the U.S. government’s list of specially designated global terrorists (SDGTs). The administration also stated its intent to add each of these entities to the State Department’s list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), claiming that all four are affiliated with “Antifa.” The development marks an escalation in the administration’s efforts to recast anti-fascist activism as a matter of national security, carrying far-reaching legal and political consequences. Experts think the move could lay the groundwork for targeting organizations and activists here in the United States, potentially undermining the right to free speech.  Tom Joscelyn, a senior fellow at Just Security, is joined by Tom Brzozowski, former counsel for Domestic Terrorism at the U.S. Department of Justice, to discuss what the new designations mean for civil liberties, and how they might reshape the boundaries of permissible speech and association.   Show Notes:  “How Designating Antifa as a Foreign Terrorist Organization Could Threaten Civil Liberties” by Tom Brzozowski (Just Security, October 27, 2025)   Just Security’s Terrorism and Violent Extremism Archive Just Security’s Counterterrorism Archive

International law professors Chiara Giorgetti, Milena Sterio, and Rebecca Hamilton join Just Security’s Managing Editor, Megan Corrarino, to discuss takeaways from the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA)’s Oct. 23-25 International Law Weekend.  In this special episode co-produced with ABILA’s International Law Chats podcast, which Giorgetti and Sterio co-host along with Alison Macdonald KC, the guests — each of whom also participated in International Law Weekend — discuss the weekend’s theme, “Crisis as Catalyst on International Law”; takeaways from panels on topics ranging from the proposed Crimes against Humanity Treaty to international environmental law and more; and how international lawyers and law students might think about their role in the present moment.  Show Note:  International Law Chats - an ABILA podcast Crisis as Catalyst in International Law by Michael P. Scharf (October 16, 2025) Crisis as Catalyst: Past, Present, and Future of International Law by William J. Aceves, Amity Boye and Jessica Peake (October 21, 2025)  A Series on the Occasion of ABILA’s International Law Weekend 2025 

Since early September, President Donald Trump has ordered a series of U.S. military strikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea the administration claims are linked to drug trafficking groups, leaving 32 people dead. One recent strike left two survivors, briefly detained by the U.S. military, and now reportedly repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador. The latest strike was reported by the Trump administration to have targeted suspected drug traffickers affiliated with a Colombian rebel group. The White House continues to defend the killings as part of a so-called war on “narco-terrorists,” while legal experts have resoundingly rejected the administration’s claims to wartime authorities. Tess Bridgeman is joined by Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane to assess the latest strikes, the brief detention of two survivors, where the campaign may be headed, and what it signals for executive power, accountability, and oversight moving forward. Show Notes: Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane, Rebecca Ingber, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part II What We Know About the U.S. Vessel Strikes One Month In (October 7, 2025, also available on YouTube)Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane, Rebecca Ingber, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas? What You Need to Know about the U.S. Strike on the Caribbean Vessel (September 9, 2025, also available on YouTube)Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers (Just Security)War Powers Resolution Reporting Project (Reiss Center for Law and Security)

Since early September, President Trump has ordered the U.S. military to conduct multiple lethal strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea suspected of drug trafficking, resulting in at least 21 deaths.  What do we actually know about the people killed and the vessels targeted? What legal justification is the administration putting forward for the killings— and is it viable? Is there anything to stop the President from making further “terrorist” designations, of citizens or non-citizens, and ordering the military to kill those he designates, including within the United States? What checks exist — from Congress, courts, or within the executive branch itself — on the president’s claimed authority to order killings in these circumstances?  On this episode of the Just Security Podcast, cross-hosted with the Reiss Center on Law and Security, host Tess Bridgeman and co-host Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by experts Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane to analyze the facts, the law, and the broader implications of this military campaign in the Caribbean. Show Notes:  This is a joint podcast of Just Security and NYU Law School’s Reiss Center on Law and Security. Executive branch reporting on the vessel strikes, on Tren de Aragua, and related resources: 48-Hour Report pursuant to the War Powers Resolution (September 4, 2025) (Note: For a living resource containing this and all other publicly available reports submitted pursuant to the War Powers Resolution since its enactment in 1973, see NYU Law’s Reiss Center on Law and Security’s War Powers Resolution Reporting Project)Notice to Congress Under 50 U.S.C. §1543a (Section 1230 of the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act) (undated, made public October 2, 2025)National Intelligence Council, Venezuela: Examining Regime Ties to Tren de Aragua (April 7, 2025)Listeners may also be interested in Just Security‘s Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers (updated, Oct. 3, 2025), including: Mary B. McCord and Tess Bridgeman, What the Senate Judiciary Committee Should Ask A.G. Bondi on Drug Cartel Strikes (Oct. 3, 2025)Marty Lederman, Legal Flaws in the Trump Administration’s Notice to Congress on “Armed Conflict” with Drug Cartels (Oct. 3, 2025)Daniel Maurer, US Servicemembers’ Exposure to Criminal Liability for Lethal Strikes on Narcoterrorists (September 24, 2025)Ben Saul, The United States’ Dirty War on “Narco Terrorism” (September 22, 2025)Annie Shiel, John Ramming Chappell, Priyanka Motaparthy, Wells Dixon and Daphne Eviatar, Murder by Drone: The Legal and Moral Stakes of the Caribbean Strikes (September 17, 2025)Brian Finucane, Asserting a License to Kill: Why the Caribbean Strike is a Dangerous Departure from the “War on Terror (September 15, 2025)Marty Lederman,

Leading scholar on domestic violent extremism and prevention strategies, Cynthia Miller-Idriss, joins Just Security Senior Fellow Tom Joscelyn to discuss her new book, Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism. They explore the intersection of gender, radicalization, and violence. Show Note:  Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism (Princeton University Press) by Cynthia Miller-IdrissJust Security’s Domestic Violent Extremism archive 

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) of 2015 is set to expire at the end of this month on September 30, 2025. The Act removes barriers to companies sharing information about cyber threats, addressing privacy concerns and requires the federal government to share threat information. Many consider CISA one of the foundations of U.S. cybersecurity efforts.    As Congress considers whether or not to reauthorize CISA, former Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI cyber division, Cynthia Kaiser, joins David Aaron to discuss the importance of the legislation and highlight the risks of failing to reauthorize it.  Show Note:  “The Next Cyber Breach Will Not Wait: Why Congress Must Reauthorize CISA 2015” by Simin Kargar for Just Security  Just Security’s CISA coverage Just Security's Cybersecurity coverage

Last week, Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) unveiled a new “national security war plan,” centered on reviving the middle class, winning the global tech race, and rethinking how Americans are protected in an era of shifting threats and changing geopolitical realities.  Senator Slotkin joins Just Security’s editors-in-chief Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman to discuss the relationship between economic security and national security, the tools Congress should use to defend against threats to our democracy, the role for congressional oversight in domestic use of the military and in the recent military attack on a suspected drug smuggling vessel in the Caribbean, how the United States should engage with China in an era of increasing competition and cooperation, and a range of other national security and foreign policy priorities. Show Notes:   Senator Elissa Slotkin’s launch of her new vision for American national security and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.   Just Security’s AI and Emerging Technology Archive Just Security’s Congress Archive

Last week, the United States carried out an unprecedented strike against a vessel suspected of narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean, destroying the vessel and reportedly killing 11 people on board. This action raises highly concerning questions about the process followed within the U.S. government: how and by whom was the strike authorized?  Why was it carried out by U.S. armed forces? And what kind of accountability or pushback might we see from Congress, in courts, or within the government itself? Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane join Tess Bridgeman to unpack the attack, the limited justifications the administration has put forward to date, and what to expect from here.  Show Notes:  Legal Issues Raised by Lethal U.S. Military Attack in the Caribbean by Brian FinucaneLabels, Not Law, to Justify Lethal Force: Venezuela Boat Strike by Mark Nevitt 

David Aaron is joined by Mary McCord and Zachary Myers to discuss last week’s search of the office and residence of former National Security Advisor John Bolton. The experts unpack what the execution of these warrants means, and what we should expect next in this unfolding investigation.  Show Notes:  Letter from Adm. Michael S. Rogers, Director, NSA submitted in United States v. Pho, 1:17-cr-00631 (GLR), ECF 20-1 (Sept. 18, 2018)Willfulness and the Harm of Unlawful Retention of National Security Information by David Aaron (Dec. 2, 2022)“Secret Evidence in Public Trials” by David Aaron (June 6, 2023) Just Security Podcast:  Insiders’ Views of Espionage Act Trials (July 17, 2023) Just Security’s coverage of John Bolton 

The Trump administration’s unprecedented federalization of policing in Washington, D.C. raises significant legal and policy questions about the Executive Branch’s power over the Metropolitan Police Department and the use of National Guard forces from D.C. and other states, among other pressing topics. To break down the latest developments, host David Aaron is joined by Brian Netter, Legal Director at Democracy Forward and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice, and Mark Nevitt, associate professor of law at Emory University and former Distinguished Military Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy and a member of the Just Security editorial board.    Show Notes:  “Trump, the National Guard, and the District of Columbia” by Mark Nevitt “One Week of Trump’s DC Takeover Attempt: An analysis of the president’s use of military, police, and security services in the nation’s capital” by Joseph Nunn and Spencer Reynolds “How to Truly Keep Washington, DC Safe: President Trump’s militarized approach undercuts what’s been working” by Donell Harvin Just Security Podcast: What Just Happened - Federalization of Law Enforcement in Washington DC with David Aaron, Carrie Cordero, and Donell Harvin

This week, the Trump administration took over command of the D.C. police department, and surged federal law enforcement officers and National Guard units into the city. While the United States has a long tradition of leaving most policing to state and local agencies, federal law enforcement has specific powers, and there are well-established limits on the use of military forces for domestic law enforcement, but the rules for DC are particular. In this episode, host David Aaron is joined by Carrie Cordero, General Counsel at the Center for a New American Security and former Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and Senior Associate General Counsel at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Donell Harvin, Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University and former Chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence for the District of Columbia. Together, they unpack significant legal and policy considerations concerning the Executive Branch’s recent actions and the open questions still in play. Show Notes: Center for a New American Security, The 21st Century National Guard: Expanding Missions, Modernizing AuthoritiesJust Security’s Federalization of DC Policing, Law Enforcement and National Security Archives