Lawfare News

The Week that Will Be

Cody M. Poplin
Monday, September 22, 2014, 12:00 AM

Event Announcements (More details on the Events Calendar)

Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Brookings

Event Announcements (More details on the Events Calendar)

Monday, September 22nd at 10:30 am: The East-West Center hosts an event entitled Trade and Innovation: India's and China's Diverse Experiences with the Information Technology Agreement. Dr. Dieter Ernst, Senior Fellow at East-West Center will address why China's electronics industry benefited substantially from the ITA, while in India, gains from trade liberalization were overshadowed by major costs that are eroding domestic electronic manufacturing. Monday, September 22nd at 12:15 pm: The New America Foundation hosts Arif Jamal, author of Calls for Transnational Jihad, Lashkar-e-Taiba 1985-2014 for a discussion on The Rise of Lashkar-e-Taiba and that the terrorist organizations history can tell us about its future. Josh White, Deputy Director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center will moderate the conversation. RSVP here. Monday, September 22nd at 4:45 pm: At the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Bob Schieffer, Juan Zarate, Jon Alterman, Julianna Goldman, will participate in a Schieffer Series event entitled Jihad 3.0. Register here. Tuesday, September 23rd at 10 am: The Bipartisan Policy Center will release a new threat assessment of Jihadist Terrorism authored by Peter Bergen. The report will examine threats from ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups, cybersecurity concerns, and drone strikes and drone proliferation. Mary Habeck, Peter Bergen, and William McCants will speak. RSVP here Wednesday, September 24th at 12 pm: Nearly three years after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi, Libya is in the throes of a bitter civil war. At a Carnegie Endowment event on Libya's Civil War, Frederic Wehrey will present the findings of a new Carnegie paper on the institutional roots of Libya's violence and present options for how the United States and the international community can assist. Wolfram Lacher and Dirk Vandewalle will act as discussants and share their own insights. Michele Dunne will moderate. More information here Wednesday, September 24th at 3:30 pm: The Carnegie Endowment hosts Samir Saran to discuss India First: Modi's Approach to Foreign Policy. Mr. Saran will explore ow the prime minister’s preferences, legacy imperatives, and ambitious agenda to transform the Indian economy could finally define a new and pragmatic approach to the region and the world. RSVP here Wednesday, September 24th at 3:30 pm: Georgetown University Law Center will host a panel discussion on the National Security Implications and Legal Solutions for 3D Printing. More information here. Thursday, September 25th at 12 pm: If there is one event you make it to, go do the Heritage Foundation's important discussion on The Legal Basis for Military Action Against ISIS. The panel discussion will include Steven G. Bradbury as well as Lawfare's Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck. Cully Stimson will moderate. RSVP, or watch online, 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.


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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.