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Event Announcements (More details on the Events Calendar)
Monday, January 25th at 1 pm: The Africa Security Initiative and the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institution and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime will host a panel discussion on Organized Crime, Terrorism, and Political Power: The Case of West Africa. Vanda Felbab-Brown, Alessandra Fontana, Tuesday Reitano, Mark Shaw, and James Soiles will participate in a discussion moderated by Harold Trinkunas. RSVP.
Wednesday, January 27th at 9 am: The House Committee on Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade will hold a hearing entitled After San Bernardino: The Future of ISIS-Inspired Attacks. General Jack Keane (Ret.) and Alberto M. Fernandez will provide testimony. See more information on the committee's website.
Wednesday, January 27th at 12 pm: The Center for Strategic and International Studies will host Tina S. Kaidanow, Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State for an event on Counting the Spread of ISIL and Other Threats. After remarks from Ambassador Kaidanow, Thomas Sanderson will moderate a discussion. Register here.
Thursday, January 28th at 6 pm: Also at CSIS, Bob Schieffer will host a Discussion on Terrorism with Fran Townsend, Mary Louise Kelly, and Juan Zarate. RSVP.
Friday, January 29th at 10 am: Rear Admiral Robert P. Girrier, Director of Unmanned Warfare Systems on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations, will deliver a keynote address on the Navy's Vision for Unmanned Systems. Andrew Hunter will moderate the event. See more information on the CSIS event announcement.
Employment Announcements (More details on the Job Board)
Legal Intern
ORGANIZATION: International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC)
Intern – International Humanitarian Law
OBJECTIVE: The Intern in the IHL Department at the Washington Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provides research and writing on topics of IHL, other branches of international law, and U.S. law as needed, thus contributing to the thematic and operational priorities of the legal team.
Minimum required knowledge & experience:
- Basic knowledge of IHL and a related legal field (e.g. National Security or Human Rights Law).
- Excellent oral and written English skills, good understanding of French an asset
- Currently pursuing a U.S. J.D. or LLM degree (or JD graduate pursuing another graduate degree)
- Applicants must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents (student work permits are excluded)
JOB DESCRIPTION
Main Responsibilities
Work with the IHL team to provide legal advice to the delegation in Washington, and to the ICRC as a whole on matters of IHL, human rights law, national security law, or other U.S. legal issues.
- Research and Writing. Research such topics as scope of application of IHL, detention, conduct of hostilities, cyber/new technology and weapons, and other related topics. Possibility of authoring articles or other short pieces for the ICRC’s U.S. blog (intercrossblog.icrc.org).
- Monitor Legal Developments Regular monitoring of legal blogs and news coverage to identify significant legal developments of interest to the delegation. In addition to research, the intern will attend conferences and meetings in order to monitor developments on specific legal issues on behalf of the legal team.
- Reporting. Regular and timely reporting and analysis on meetings and events attended, as well as a weekly report on any relevant legal developments reported in external sources such as legal blogs. Reports are written for the purpose of ensuring the institution is informed of developments in U.S. policy, as well as to advance its thinking on key issues.
Management and Reporting Line. The IHL Intern reports directly to the IHL Legal Advisor. He/she is expected to collaborate with colleagues throughout the delegation in order to carry out these and other reasonably related duties.
The intern will be expected to work 20 hours a week for 12 weeks between June and August. Starting and ending date are negotiable. This is a paid internship. For information about the position, please contact Andrea Harrison at anharrison@icrc.org. To apply, please send CV and optional cover letter to Carly Steffes at csteffes@icrc.org. Applications are due April 1st, 2016.
Researcher on National Security, Surveillance, and Domestic Law Enforcement, Human Rights Watch
Description: The US Program of Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) is seeking a highly qualified Researcher on National Security, Surveillance, and Domestic Law Enforcement to investigate, analyze, and advocate against human rights abuses related to the rights abuses occurring at the intersection between national security policies, US mass surveillance, and domestic law enforcement policies and practices. The role of the Researcher may include documenting and assessing the rights implications of involving domestic law enforcement in national security operations, prosecutors’ use of information derived from US mass surveillance in preparing criminal cases, or the rights implications of the use of new tools of surveillance by local police or immigration enforcement agencies. The position reports to the Director of the US Program. The position will be preferably based in Washington DC, but other locations may be considered.
Qualifications: Education: A US law degree (J.D.) or an advanced degree in US national security, criminal law/policy, journalism, or a related field is required.
Experience: Minimum four years of relevant experience is required. Relevant experience may include among other things, work as an investigative reporter or attorney on issues related to privacy, surveillance, national security and domestic law enforcement; analysis and advocacy on for nonprofit advocacy or impact litigation organizations; or work in government on policies relating to national security, privacy, surveillance, and/or criminal law.
Related Skills and Knowledge: 1. Extensive knowledge of national security, privacy, surveillance, and criminal law in the US is required; 2. Deep commitment to human rights is required; 3. Proven track record of producing timely first-rate written products and editing experience is required. 4. Exceptionally strong research, analytical, writing, and editing skills are required. 5. Experience conducting challenging investigative research inside the United States is highly desirable. 6. Expertise or familiarity with relevant technology is highly desirable. 7. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English, and strong public speaking skills, are required; proficiency in other languages, such as Spanish or Arabic, is highly desirable; experience with TV, radio, print, and social media is highly desirable. 8. Strong interpersonal skills in order to work collaboratively within HRW and in a diverse environment, as well as with partners, are required. 9. Capacity to appropriately plan and prioritize and to manage multiple, sometimes competing demands efficiently in a challenging, fast-paced environment are required.
Salary and Benefits: HRW seeks exceptional applicants and offers competitive compensation and employer-paid benefits. HRW will pay reasonable relocation expenses and will assist employees in obtaining necessary work authorization, if required; citizens of all nationalities are encouraged to apply. Other: Applicants for this position must be willing to travel frequently and be prepared to spend extensive time outside the office doing research or advocacy.
Contact: Please submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, salary requirements, a brief non-legal writing sample (no briefs or legal memos and unedited by others) and three references to usprog_jobs@hrw.org. Please use “National Security Researcher Application Ref: USP-15- 1078” as the subject of your email.
