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The Week That Will Be

Cody M. Poplin
Monday, October 6, 2014, 12:00 AM

Event Announcements (More details on the Events Calendar)

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Event Announcements (More details on the Events Calendar)

Monday, October 6th at 12 pm: Over the past four years, Syria and the entire Middle East have witnessed unprecedented changes. At the Woodrow Wilson Center, Christian Sahner will deliver a lecture entitled The History of the Future of Syria covering these events, the role of U.S. foreign policy , the growth and proliferation of terrorist organizations such as ISIS, the fate of minorities, and the state of cultural patrimony in the region. More information here Monday, October 6th at 1 pm: The George Washington University Law School will host a National Security Law Career Fair. For a list of national security representatives, please visit the events calendar. Tuesday, October 7th at 10 am: On the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States, the Brookings Institution will host a discussion on India's Role in the World: A Conversation with Ambassador Shivshankar Menon. Strobe Talbott will moderate the discussion. RSVP here. Tuesday, October 7th at 12 pm: The Cato Institute will hold a Capitol Hill briefing on conducting War Without Debate: The Constitution, Intervention, and the Strikes Against ISIS. Gene Healy, Christopher Preble, and John Maniscalco will speak. Register or watch the livestream here. Thursday, October 9th at 12:30 pm: While Western attention is caught by the rise of the so-called "Islamic State", the real story may be the dissolution of order in the Middle East. How do we understand ongoing political and geopolitical shifts in the region and the rise of new types of actors such as the "Islamic State"? And what, if anything, can and should Western powers do? A panel at the Woodrow Wilson Center will address these questions in a conversation entitled ISIS and the End of the Middle East as We Know It. Volker Perthes and Robert S. Litwak will speak. Find more information here  

Employment Announcements (More details on the Job Board)

Senior Associate General Counsel
ORGANIZATION: Office of the Director of National Intelligence JOB ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: 16871
SALARY RANGE: $124,995-$157,100 / Per Year
OPEN PERIOD: Sept. 11, 2014 to Sept. 11, 2015
POSITION INFORMATION: Permanent
DUTY LOCATIONS: McLean, VA
WHO MAY APPLY: US Citizens
SECURITY CLEARANCE: Top Secret/SCI with CI
JOB SUMMARY: The Office of General Counsel (OSG) of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence provides legal advice and counsel to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and other ODNI officials on a wide range of legal issues to include intelligence and national security law, procurement and acquisition law, personnel law, government ethics, budget and fiscal law, general administrative law, legislative support, government information practices, and intellectual property law. MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
  • Provide expert legal advice and guidance to senior ODNI leadership on complex areas of law affecting ODNI's duties and responsibilities under the National Security Act, Presidential directives, Executive Orders, and other related laws and policies.
  • Provide expert legal counsel to support the development, review, and preparation of US Government-wide policies, procedures, guidelines, rules, and standards.
  • Counsel clients, including senior ODNI leaders, on complex legal issues and provide innovative and highly effective guidance on possible courses of action; expertly prepare complex, high profile, and persuasive legal documents on complex legal issues for a variety of internal and external recipients.
  • Provide timely reviews of planned ODNI and IC activities for compliance with the Constitution and laws of the US, Executive Orders, and other applicable regulations and policies affecting ODNI and the IC and brief ODNI leaders on potential legal and policy issues, and develop solutions to address difficult legal problems having potential high-level or large-scale impact on the ODNI's or the IC missions and activities.
  • Provide expert briefings and advocate for ODNI and IC views on particular matters to Executive Branch entities, Congress, and private sector entities; cogently brief senior ODNI leaders on legal issues that relate to or effect ODNI and IC activities.
For more information and for directions on how to apply, please visit the employment announcement.
  Military and Technical Adviser
ORGANIZATION: International Committee of the Red Cross LOCATION: Geneva DEADLINE: September 30, 2014 STARTING DATE: November 1, 2014

The Arms Unit of the Legal Division has an opening for a Military and Technical Adviser in Geneva (male or female) – 100% occupancy rate

Purpose of the post

The Arms Unit of the ICRC’s Legal Division serves the ICRC objectives in the legal, operational and communications fields by the provision of expertise and analysis, from a humanitarian perspective, on arms and weapons-related technology employed in armed conflict and other situations of violence. The unit represents ICRC policy and positions in multilateral for on arms and international humanitarian law. It also supports ICRC operational, legal and communications work by providing or coordinating the provision of technical, legal, medical/health and policy analysis on weapons used in armed conflicts and other situations of violence and on relevant scientific advances.

The Military and Technical Adviser plays a key role in the achievement of institutional objectives in the field of arms and international humanitarian law. The incumbent contributes military and technical expertise to the ICRC’s policy, legal and operational responses to arms issues arising from ICRC field experience and new scientific and technological developments. The incumbent will also have primary responsibility for at least one major file of the Arms Unit. The post reports to the Head of the Arms Unit in the Legal Division of the ICRC.

Main responsibilities

  • Advise and contribute military and technical analysis on a range of arms issues being addressed by the Arms Unit (e.g. use of explosive weapons in populated areas; cluster munitions; anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines; incendiary weapons; operationalization of the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War; remote-controlled, automated and autonomous weapons) and on issues pertaining to the conduct of hostilities carried out within the Legal Division.
  • Contribute to legal and operational analysis of issues arising from the deployment of specific weapons with armed forces in armed conflict and other situations of violence including peacekeeping and law enforcement.  Provide military and technical analysis to ICRC units and delegations in response to the use of specific weapons and methods of warfare in armed conflicts and law enforcement situations.
  • Maintain and develop links between the ICRC’s arms unit and relevant military and technical experts and organisations.
  • Develop “fact sheets” presenting the military role, technical details and anticipated humanitarian impacts of a range of weapons.
  • Provide additional capacity for research, writing, representation and outreach to internal and external audiences on arms issues.
  • Represent ICRC views and positions in a variety of external fora.
  • Provide expertise on means of identification for medical transports in accordance with the relevant provision of international humanitarian law.
  • Serve as the institutional focal point for the International Telecommunications Union.
Training and experience required
  • Advanced military training and service with in-depth knowledge of targeting procedures and conventional weapons including explosive munitions. Good knowledge of arms control regimes is an advantage.
  • A degree in the physical sciences (e.g. physics, engineering) and/or military disciplines.
  • Knowledge of the general rules of international humanitarian law, in particular in relation to the conduct of hostilities. Specialised training in international humanitarian law and/or international relations is an asset.
  • Professional experience working in multilateral processes, preferably in the arms field is an advantage.
  • Field experience with the ICRC or another humanitarian organisation is an asset.
Skills and qualifications
  • Excellent analytical and political judgement.
  • Excellent oral and written English, the capacity to work in French. Additional languages are an advantage.
  • Good communication skills.
  • Openness to dialogue and good interpersonal skills.
  • Strong motivation and aptitude for work within a highly integrated team.
Minimum length of assignment: 2 years (extendable)

Starting date: 1 November 2014

If this post interests you and you meet the requirements set out above, please send your application by the 30th of September 2014 at the latest, to application_hq@icrc.org mentioning “DC/JUR/ARMES - Application – Military & Technical Adviser” in the subject of your message. Only applications via this e-mail will be considered for this campaign. If you don’t receive a reply to your application within one month, please consider that your file has not been shortlisted.

Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow

ORGANIZATION: Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship
DEADLINE: October 10, 2014
STARTING DATE: Between January 15 and April 1, 2015
DURATION: Six to nine months LOCATION: Washington, DC
The Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship provides full-time six to nine month fellowships for recent college and graduate school graduates to work on international peace and security issues with one of more than two dozen participating public-interest organizations in Washington, DC. Scoville Fellows have the opportunity to work with senior-level staff and to conduct research, write articles and reports, organize talks and conferences sponsored by their host organization, and do public education and advocacy on a range of issues including arms control and nonproliferation, conventional arms trade, environmental and energy security, military budget, and peacekeeping. They may also attend coalition meetings, Congressional hearings, and policy briefings, as well as meetings with policy experts arranged by the program. Scoville Fellows are paid at an annual rate of $33,600 ($2,800 per month), and receive health insurance and travel costs to DC to begin the fellowship. The next application deadline is October 10, 2014 for the spring 2015 fellowship. For complete information seewww.scoville.org.
Candidates must have an excellent academic record and a strong interest in issues of peace and security. Graduate study, a college major, course work, or substantial independent reading that reflects the substantive focus of the fellowship is also a plus. Prior experience with public-interest activism or advocacy is highly desirable. It is preferred, but not required, that such activities be focused on peace and security issues. Candidates are required to have completed a baccalaureate degree by the time the fellowship commences. The program is open to all U.S. citizens and to non-U.S. citizens living in the U.S. eligible for employment. Non-U.S. citizens living outside the United States are not eligible to apply. Preference will be given to individuals who have not had substantial prior public-interest or government experience in the Washington, DC area.

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Cody Poplin is a student at Yale Law School. Prior to law school, Cody worked at the Brookings Institution and served as an editor of Lawfare. He graduated from the UNC-Chapel Hill in 2012 with degrees in Political Science & Peace, War, and Defense.

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