The Week That Was

Dmytro Koval and Mykhailo Soldatenko examined Ukraine’s recent ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including the historical background of the ratification, the concerns of the Ukrainian military and security officials about potential ICC exposure, Ukraine’s Article 124 caveat, and more.

Ben Green shared Israel’s response to the ICC prosecutor's request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. Israel requested an order from the ICC pre-trial chamber that would require the prosecutor to notify Israel of investigations into the war in Gaza, and challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction over the pending applications for arrest warrants.

James Gethyn Evans reviewed “Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China’s Superpower Future,” by Chun Han Wong, which reconstructs Xi’s upbringing and ascent to power, and revisits Xi’s origins as a way to explain his role in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s recent political, economic, and military evolution. Evans concluded that Wong succeeds in writing an analytical but accessible book that centers Xi within the dynamic structures of China’s party and state apparatuses.

In the latest installment of Water Wars, Aaron Baum, Nikhita Salgame, and Ania Zolyniak discussed the latest news out of the Indo-Pacific, including China’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a dummy warhead from Hainan island and over Pacific waters, the sinking of China’s newest nuclear-power submarine in a shipyard near Wuhan, icebreakers in the Arctic Ocean, and more.

In the most recent installment of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren broke down the latest news, including Telegram’s role in enabling transnational criminal organizations, China’s hacking-related “counter-counter-intelligence operation,” how Smart TVs take snapshots of what you watch, and more.

In the first of two new installments of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Jason Warner explained how Russia has emerged as the top choice to provide counterterrorism assistance for many African countries, and what the United States can do to change its status in the ongoing counterterrorism-as-influence battle.

Marcus Ray examined the decades-long conflict in Western Sahara, including the origins of the conflict, the collapse of a ceasefire between the Polisario Front (PF) and Morocco, dwindling diplomatic support for the PF, the unlikely prospects for peace, and more.

On Lawfare Daily, Kevin Frazier sat down with Jake Effoduh to discuss the latter’s research on the Global South’s perspective on AI, his unique exploration of AI’s impact on the pursuit and realization of human rights in Africa, and more.

Justin Curl examined the budgets of 20 international organizations (IOs) to estimate the cost of a potential artificial intelligence (AI) IO, evaluating overall costs, funding principles, and possible future research for effective implementation of an AI IO.

On Rational Security, Scott R. Anderson sat down with Molly Reynolds, Frazier, and Katherine Pompilio to talk over the week's big national security news stories, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) recent veto of SB 1047, Congress’s recess in the context of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s recent Jan. 6 brief, and more.

Michael Mieses, Noelle Kerr, and Nakissa Jahanbani discussed the Islamic Republic of Iran’s increasing cyber capabilities, including the scope of its cyber infrastructure and coordination with proxies, its recent operations in the Israel-Hamas war, the West’s response to the Iranian cyber threat, and more.

Stewart Scott argued that, in contrast to recent claims by the Office of the National Cyber Director, cybersecurity outcomes can and should be evaluated. Scott emphasized the value of measuring the degree to which government cybersecurity initiatives reduce potential harms and the importance of these quantitative assessments in shaping cybersecurity policy.

In the latest episode of our special series, “The Regulators,” co-sponsored with Morrison Foerster, Brandon Van Grack and Anderson sat down with Loyaan Egal, the chief of the Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The trio discussed the FCC’s role in advancing U.S. national security, how the FCC’s mandate intersects with U.S. national security concerns, how the FCC is tackling issues ranging from undersea cables to artificial intelligence-enabled election interference, future national security challenges the FCC is looking out for, and more.

On Chatter, Shane Harris sat down with Nancy Sherman to discuss stoicism, the subject of Sherman’s book “Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy behind the Military Mind.” The pair talked about the philosophy’s recent popularity with self-help gurus and tech bros, and how it remains a central, guiding philosophy for much of the United States military.

In the latest installment of a series from Protect Democracy and Lawfare on the limitations, drawbacks, and dangers of domestic deployment, Lindsay P. Cohn discussed the domestic deployments of the military for policing purposes. Cohn considered the restraint the military must exercise when policing domestic unrest, the harmful effect that domestic deployment might have on public trust in the military, the military’s role in deterring violence, and more.

On Lawfare Daily, Quinta Jurecic sat down with Kate Starbird in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton to discuss why rumors and conspiracy theories spread after disasters, whether the flood of falsehoods is worse this time around, how confusion following the hurricanes may set the groundwork for future conspiracy theories about the presidential election, and more.

On Lawfare Daily, Roger Parloff sat down with Kyle Cheney to discuss Cheney’s recent Politico article on the legal and political landmines threatening the criminal prosecutions of rioters involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. The pair discussed the serious legal challenge to the key misdemeanor charge leveled in more than 90 percent of Jan. 6 cases, a troubling ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declaring most “geofencing” warrants unconstitutional, former President Donald Trump’s promises to pardon many Jan. 6 defendants if he wins reelection, and more.

In the second of two new installments of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Benjamin Allison examined examples of political violence in the United States, and described the varying mix of “unclear” political ideologies and personal grievances that might come together to motivate a violent actor.

Erica Frantz reviewed “Autocracy, Inc.,” Anne Applebaum’s book that explores the role of international economic factors in enabling the growing strength of dictatorships, the increasing alliances between ideologically distinct regimes, the prioritization of wealth and power by regimes, and more.

On Oct. 10 at 4 pm ET, Benjamin Wittes talked to Lawfare Senior Editors Parloff and Anna Bower, and Learned Hand Professor at Harvard Law School Jack Goldsmith for this week’s episode of “Lawfare Live: Trump’s Trials and Tribulations.” If you would like to be able to submit questions to panelists and watch livestreams without ads, become a material supporter of Lawfare. It was livestreamed on YouTube for all other viewers. The recording is available on Lawfare’s YouTube channel and on the Lawfare Podcast feed.

On Lawfare Daily, Tyler McBrien sat down with Brad Samuels, Lisa Luksch, and Anjli Parrin to discuss a new exhibition, “Visual Investigations: Between Advocacy, Journalism, and Law,” which opens on Oct. 10 at the Architekturmuseum der TUM in Munich. The exhibition explores the emergent field of visual investigation, which brings together interdisciplinary teams of architects, filmmakers, computer scientists, and others who synthesize images, video, and other data to present factual accounts of human rights abuses.

And to support Lawfare’s coverage of the Trump Trials—a first-of-its-kind project dedicated to providing in-depth coverage of the ongoing criminal proceedings against Trump in Washington, Florida, New York, and Georgia—please consider making a contribution here. Lawfare’s talented correspondents and analysts discuss the latest developments in the cases, explain the complex legal issues they raise, and consider what might come next in a wide range of content, including written analysis, podcasts, live and recorded virtual events, primary source document repositories, and infographics.

And that was the week that was.