The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post

John Bellinger reflected on the legacy of Guantanamo Bay and the mistakes made at the detention facility. 

Anna Borshchevskaya discussed Russia’s strategic success in Syria and the future of the Kremlin’s Middle East policy.  

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Jacob Schulz talked with Leah West and Louisa Loveluck about fighting between Islamic State fighters and Syrian Democratic Forces after the Islamic State attempted a jailbreak at a Kurdish prison containing significant numbers of alleged Islamic State fighters:

Brady Worthington outlined what the U.S. government is doing about Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang, China. 

Jordan Schneider shared an episode of ChinaTalk in which he, Peter Martin and Jason Zhou traced the history of China’s post-1949 diplomatic corps and dissected the international diplomacy up to Henry Kissinger’s visit to China:

Howell also shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Natalie Orpett sat down with Susan Dominus and Luke Broadwater to discuss what the two learned through their reporting on Jan. 6 and what it means for ongoing efforts to respond to the attack:

Steven Arrigg Koh discussed how the executive branch must balance foreign affairs imperatives against overcriminalization and overt Justice Department politicization.

Darrell West shared an episode of TechTank in which he and Amy Zegart discussed how digital technology is transforming espionage and why America needs to move towards more open-source data gathering:

Amir Cahane discussed the controversy revealed by an Israeli Supreme Court ruling in favor of relaxed rules governing cell phone search warrants that exposed that Israeli police have been using NSO Group spyware allegedly without warrants or explicit statutory authorization.

Stewart Baker shared an episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast in which he discussed topics ranging from law and policy for the quantum age to metadata subpoenas for WhatsApp:

Brandon D. Fox, Keisha N. Stanford, Tessa J.G. Roberts and Annie R. Wilt analyzed the Biden administration’s national security strategy to combat corruption. 

Bill Baer and Stephanie Pell discussed how we can protect national security, cybersecurity and privacy while also ensuring competition. 

Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Evelyn Douek and Quinta Jurecic spoke to Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin of the Check My Ads Institute about their campaign to call out and let companies know when their ads are showing up next to content published by far-right figures who supported the Jan. 6 insurrection. They discussed the techniques Jammi and Atkin use to trace ad distribution and how advertisers respond when Check My Ads alerts them that they’re funding “brand unsafe” content:

Katherine Pompilio posted a memo released by the White House Office of Management and Budget that announced that federal agencies will be transitioning to a “zero trust” approach to cybersecurity.

Claudia Swain announced this week’s Lawfare Live in which Schulz interviewed Lawfare Senior Editor Pell, to find out more about her background and how she came to be working at Lawfare.

Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Oona Hathaway and Pell discussed some of our classification system’s most corrosive effects on our democratic system of governance and proposals for reforming it:

Bridget Dooling analyzed how the Supreme Court’s rejection of the employer vaccinate-or-test rule affects President Biden’s agenda. 

Rohini Kurup posted an executive order signed by President Biden that makes sexual harassment an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and strengthens the military’s response to domestic violence and the wrongful distribution of intimate images.

David Priess shared an episode of the Chatter podcast in which he talked with Martia Sturken about 9/11-related memorials, museums and architecture:

Priess also  shared an episode of the Chatter podcast in which Shane Harris spoke with Leslie Kean about the important questions that remain about UFOs, and what the U.S. government may be on the cusp of answering:

Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Scott R. Anderson spoke with Ned Foley about the ordinance of the Electoral Count Act, a recent congressional report outlining possible reforms and what limits the Constitution may put on what reform can accomplish:

And Jeff Kosseff outlined how Washington’s election misinformation bill poses dangers of compromising first amendment values. 

And that was the week that was.