At year’s end, we’re reflecting on all that’s happened in 2025. Our @rcls-nyu.bsky.social programs & research mapped growing faultlines in national security law and policy. Check out the work we did to meet the moment: www.lawandsecurity.org/annual-highl...

This Timeline of Boat Strikes and Related Actions (including international reactions) is now updated due to 3 strikes on Monday Overview as of December 16, 2025: 25 strikes; 95 reported killed; 2 known survivors

Watch some highlights from our recent podcast episode on the vessel strikes in the Caribbean, with @tessbridgeman.bsky.social @bcfinucane.bsky.social @becingber.bsky.social @rachelgoldbrenner.bsky.social. Full episode here: www.lawandsecurity.org/calendar/mur...

Operation Southern Spear: Why the Crews, Drugs, and Boats are Not Targetable A deep dive into international law applicable to US lethal operations against suspected drug boats By Mike Schmitt, Tess Bridgeman, Ryan Goodman @mikeschmitt.bsky.social @tessbridgeman.bsky.social @rgoodlaw.bsky.social

U.S. Boat Strike Campaign: Questions Congress Should Ask Executive Branch Officials By @tessbridgeman.bsky.social, Margaret Donovan, @rgoodlaw.bsky.social www.justsecurity.org/126322/boat-...

“Even under a law of armed conflict, they were all civilians, and we are not actually in armed conflict. Either way, it was all murder.” Our @rcls-nyu.bsky.social Faculty Co-Director & IHL expert @rgoodlaw.bsky.social speaks to @charliesavage.bsky.social @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...

I joined Michael Scharf, the host of Talking Foreign Policy, along with Harold Koh, Milena Sterio, and Greg Noone to discuss the Trump Administration's boat strikes

Murder on the High Seas Part IV is here👇 Joined by @rachelgoldbrenner.bsky.social, @becingber.bsky.social @bcfinucane.bsky.social to break down, 3 months in: -Why the entire campaign is illegal -The "double tap" Sept 2 strike -Allies' reactions -Congress' role www.justsecurity.org/126056/the-j...

Must-read resource on the legality of the boat strikes in the Caribbean, in straightforward Q&A format. From our @rcls-nyu.bsky.social faculty co-director @rgoodlaw.bsky.social and senior fellow @tessbridgeman.bsky.social, with @mikeschmitt.bsky.social. Read & refer to it, over @justsecurity.org:

Amidst the ongoing lethal campaign in the Caribbean, @rcls-nyu.bsky.social fellows/fmr senior govt lawyers are convening regularly to lend expertise cc @tessbridgeman.bsky.social @bcfinucane.bsky.social @becingber.bsky.social @justsecurity.org 🎤 The latest: www.lawandsecurity.org/calendar/mur...

This #GivingTuesday, we hope you’ll consider a tax-deductible gift to @rcls-nyu.bsky.social. Your support helps us address #natsec challenges at home & abroad as we: ✔️Develop fact-based, relevant research ✔️Convene top experts on timely issues ✔️Train new leaders lawandsecurity.org/donate/

Great speaking with Ruth Marcus @newyorker.com for her latest on the Trump administration's strikes on suspected drug traffickers at sea and why there can be no justification for firing on the two survivors of the military's first strike on Sept 2nd 👇

Read our latest (I teamed up with @mikeschmitt.bsky.social and @rgoodlaw.bsky.social) to understand the law on: - The duty to refuse unlawful orders - Why an order to fire on shipwrecked boat survivors is clearly illegal - Why superior orders is not a defense www.justsecurity.org/125948/illeg...

I teamed up with two phenomenal experts - @mikeschmitt.bsky.social @tessbridgeman.bsky.social - for this Expert Backgrounder. To provide the public, lawmakers, other decision-makers with the best legal advice on this most serious issue. Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors

Pleased to speak with @johnismay.bsky.social about Trump’s saber rattling towards Venezuela. “Threats of the use of force, much less an actual attack on Venezuela, would violate the U.N. Charter. Any such attack would also lack congressional authorization.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/u...

Pleased to share my new essay in @foreignaffairs.com on the broader implications of the Trump administration’s killing spree at sea. www.foreignaffairs.com/central-amer...

As news in the Caribbean/Eastern Pacific keeps coming, check out this vital resource from @rcls-nyu.bsky.social Student Scholars & @nyulaw.bsky.social students Jeremy Chin, Maggie Lin, Aidan Arasasingham. Now with updates & expanded range of relevant actions and reactions. Read @justsecurity.org:

Our @rcls-nyu.bsky.social faculty co-director @rgoodlaw.bsky.social explains court ruling halting deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, DC. On @cnn.com's @outfrontcnn.bsky.social 👇 www.cnn.com/2025/11/20/u...

Our @rcls-nyu.bsky.social fellow and former WH Deputy National Cyber Director, @camillestewartgloster.com writes in @justsecurity.org about natsec challenges and opportunities of solar energy👇

Read @rcls-nyu.bsky.social fellow & counter-extremism expert @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social on new terrorism designations of "Antifa Groups", in @justsecurity.org 👇

This week, @rcls-nyu.bsky.social was honored to cosponsor the American Bar Association’s (@americanbar.org) 35th Annual Review of National Security Law Conference, featuring leading legal voices across the #natsec field. events.americanbar.org/event/2f688d...

ICYMI: Watch leading legal experts discuss & debate presidential power and the state of constitutional checks & balances. @nyulaw.bsky.social Forum cohosted by us @rcls-nyu.bsky.social w/ Bob Bauer Michael McConnell (Stanford Law) Gillian Metzger (Columbia Law) RCLS Faculty Co-Dir Trevor Morrison

⏰The War Powers clock is ticking⏰ Nov 3 🟰 60 days since reported 1st Caribbean boat strike Under War Powers Resolution, w/in 60 days if Congress does not OK strikes, POTUS “shall terminate any use of US Armed Forces” Our catalog on every War Powers Reports since 1973: warpowers.lawandsecurity.org

"To date, the administration’s claimed legal bases for conducting the lethal operations, as well as its legal characterization of them, are counterfactual, counter-normative, and, as this essay has illustrated, contradictory." Read faculty co-dir @rgoodlaw.bsky.social on U.S. lethal boat strikes👇

ICYMI: watch the @rcls-nyu.bsky.social discussion with Ashley Deeks & Beth George. Drawing from their govt lawyering, academia, & private sector experience, they discuss critical emerging challenges in #AI & #natsec. Their rich & far-ranging discussion here👇 www.lawandsecurity.org/calendar/the...

"In the most serious category, they've now found 20 cases where judges have questioned the government's compliance with their judicial orders." I'm grateful for this new discussion of our updated study in @60minutes.bsky.social Overtime. Link to @justsecurity.org study: youtu.be/VO_2nP1-e5c?...

Lively discussion happening now: @nyulaw.bsky.social Forum, co-hosted by us @rcls-nyu.bsky.social All the President’s Power: What’s Left of Checks and Balances? Moderated by our faculty co-dir & dean emeritus @twmorrison.bsky.social, w/ Bob Bauer, Michael McConnell & Gillian Metzger

“There are truly extreme risks of escalation here...more broadly, I think we're just eroding the norms...eroding the rule that is the backbone of the modern int'l law system that states may not use force except in the most narrow exceptional circumstances.” Read analysis by @becingber.bsky.social👇

Catch up on the latest on #Trump Admin lethal actions in the Caribbean Expert series via @justsecurity.org podcast Featuring @rcls-nyu.bsky.social fellows and former senior gov't lawyers: @tessbridgeman.bsky.social @bcfinucane.bsky.social @becingber.bsky.social

📣HAPPENING NOW: Ashley Deeks (@uvalaw.bsky.social) & @bethgeorge.bsky.social on "The Double Black Box,” a book on the challenges of #AI and national security. 📅 10/20 | 🕒 3–4pm ET | 📍 Zoom Tune in! CLE credit available👇 www.lawandsecurity.org/calendar/the...

I'm grateful to @60minutes.bsky.social featuring our study published @justsecurity.org. Link to the study (on the 'presumption of regularity'): www.justsecurity.org/120547/presu...

[1/5] With news of another U.S. strike on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean, check out our recent podcast episode, Murder on the High Seas, Part II with @tessbridgeman.bsky.social, @bcfinucane.bsky.social, @becingber.bsky.social & Rachel Golbrenner www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPGo...

Don’t forget to register! Join @rcls-nyu.bsky.social for a timely & insightful book talk w/ Ashley Deeks (@uvalaw.bsky.social) & Beth George on "The Double Black Box," a book on #AI and national security. 📅 10/20 | 🕒 3–4pm ET | 📍 Zoom CLE credit info & RSVP 👇 www.lawandsecurity.org/calendar/the...

Today Pres. Trump announced a fifth lethal strike against a boat "affiliated w/ a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking..." @rcls-nyu.bsky.social @justsecurity.org broke down legal issues & implications of these strikes. Listen here: www.lawandsecurity.org/calendar/mur...

We were pleased to co-host @justsecurity.org podcast's latest episode, on legal theories behind the #Trump Admin's lethal boat strikes. Our War Powers Resolution Reporting Project includes the Sept. 4 report discussed, along w/ 127 more in a living, open-source database: warpowers.lawandsecurity.org

Murder on the High Seas Part II: What We Know about U.S. Vessel Strikes One Month In @tessbridgeman.bsky.social and Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by @becingber.bsky.social and @bcfinucane.bsky.social to analyze the U.S. military campaign in the Caribbean. www.justsecurity.org/122025/podca...

Don’t miss Ashley Deeks (@uvalaw.bsky.social) on her new book on #AI and national security, "The Double Black Box," in conversation w/ @bethgeorge.bsky.social. 📅 10/20 | 🕒 3–4pm ET | 📍 Zoom Host: @rcls-nyu.bsky.social CLE credit available Details & RSVP: www.lawandsecurity.org/calendar/the...

We're delighted to welcome four distinguished experts & practitioners to @RCLS_NYU: 🔹Chris Fonzone 🔹Karen Greenberg 🔹Chris Rogers 🔹Nicholas Rasmussen As Non-Resident Senior Fellows, they'll bring invaluable #natsec experience to our work and student mentorship. www.lawandsecurity.org/fellows/

Mary McCord, former Acting Assistant AG for National Security, and I teamed up on Qs Senators should ask #Bondi at her Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, on strikes that have killed 17 people to date. The implications are serious. Consider a few of the Qs: www.justsecurity.org/121862/ask-b...

We were honored to kick off this year’s #RoadLessTraveled conversation series by welcoming Gideon Maltz, Chief Executive Officer @Tent and fmr NSC Director of Human Rts & Multilateral Affairs. Our series provides @nyulaw.bsky.social students a view into the diverse world of #natsec careers.

W/ the latest US strike on a Venezuelan boat, read RCLS fellow @bcfinucane.bsky.social's analysis in Just Security to understand issues at play. & stay tuned for updates on our @rcls-nyu.bsky.social War Powers Resolution Reporting Project: warpowers.lawandsecurity.org cc @tessbridgeman.bsky.social

Important new study on an evolving judicial doctrine, from our faculty co-director @rgoodlaw.bsky.social with invaluable research from @nyulaw.bsky.social students:

Many thanks to Senator @slotkin.senate.gov for this wide-ranging conversation with @tessbridgeman.bsky.social and me on @justsecurity.org podcast. Economic security China and AI Fentanyl and military operations against drug cartels Military on U.S. streets more www.buzzsprout.com/2074610/epis...

New book alert! 📚 "Perpetual War and International Law: Enduring Legacies of the War on Terror" (OUP), ed @briannarosen.bsky.social. Marking 24th anniversary of #September11, it offers a timely reflection on how the post-9/11 era shapes contemporary conflicts. www.justsecurity.org/120313/perpe...

NEW: The war powers report on Trump's attack on a suspected drug trafficking vessel in the Caribbean last week is included in our @rcls-nyu.bsky.social War Powers Reporting Project searchable database and included here: warpowers.lawandsecurity.org/reports/2025...

With thanks to the great team @rcls-nyu.bsky.social and our research scholars who help make this a living resource!

Our @rcls-nyu.bsky.social leaders & fellows have been providing real-time analysis of the Trump Administration's use of military action against drug trafficking. A round-up of recent commentary (🧵):

1/ I worked at DoD. I literally cannot imagine lawyers coming up with a legal basis for lethal strike of suspected Venezuelan drug boat. Hard to see how this would not be "murder" or war crime under international law that DoD considers applicable. Read expert analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social⤵️

I've read and coded every War Powers Report ever sent to Congress (check them all out, with interactive graphics and a searchable database 👇), and this one on #Trump's attack on an alleged drug smuggling vessel in the Caribbean stands out. I'll explain below: warpowers.lawandsecurity.org

Read our Non-Resident Senior Fellow @becingber.bsky.social (w/ @scott-roehm.bsky.social) on the six new 502B resolutions before Congress and how their updates are a step in the right direction for combatting the Trump Admin’s “third-country removals.” www.justsecurity.org/118670/congr...