Fighting While Talking: The Iran War Enters Its Bargaining Phase
In war, the guns do not fall silent so the diplomats can speak. The guns often speak for them.
The Risks of Getting Russian and Chinese Nuclear Strategy Wrong
Strategists must understand the great powers’ different approaches to nuclear use.
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The U.S. and Lithuania Clash Over Belarusian Potash
The critical mineral has driven a wedge between Washington and Vilnius, as the Trump administration pressures a NATO ally to engage with Belarus—sidestepping the EU in the process.
In the Line of Fire: Legal Risks for Tech in Conflict Zones
From targetability to liability, tech companies face expanding risks in conflict zones.
What’s So Special About a Special Grand Jury?
A primer on how special grand juries work, what federal law actually permits them to do, and why this one might backfire.
Chasing Surveillance Powers, Canada Risks the CLOUD Act Deal It Needs
Bill C-22’s anti-security powers could cost Canada the tool it needs most to modernize investigations for the cloud era.
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Fighting While Talking: The Iran War Enters Its Bargaining Phase
In war, the guns do not fall silent so the diplomats can speak. The guns often speak for them. -
The Risks of Getting Russian and Chinese Nuclear Strategy Wrong
Strategists must understand the great powers’ different approaches to nuclear use. -
The U.S. and Lithuania Clash Over Belarusian Potash
The critical mineral has driven a wedge between Washington and Vilnius, as the Trump administration pressures a NATO ally to engage with Belarus—sidestepping the EU in the process. -
In the Line of Fire: Legal Risks for Tech in Conflict Zones
From targetability to liability, tech companies face expanding risks in conflict zones. -
What’s So Special About a Special Grand Jury?
A primer on how special grand juries work, what federal law actually permits them to do, and why this one might backfire. -
Chasing Surveillance Powers, Canada Risks the CLOUD Act Deal It Needs
Bill C-22’s anti-security powers could cost Canada the tool it needs most to modernize investigations for the cloud era. -
The Week That Was
Your weekly summary of everything on the site. -
Reviving Article 109: A Legal Path Out of Security Council Paralysis
Eighty-one years after Hiroshima, a look at the legal contradiction embedded in the UN’s founding—and the dormant charter provision that could still resolve it. -
A Political History of the Internet
A review of Fiona M. Alexander, Laura DeNardis, Nanette S. Levinson, and Francesca Musiani, “Geopolitics at the Internet’s Core” (Palgrave MacMillan, 2025). -
Data Theft Extortion Is Booming! Hooray!
The latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, now on Lawfare. -
Who Writes the AI Constitution?
Documents encoding AI models’ values are alignment’s highest-leverage point—regulating their contents hits the First Amendment. -
Exxon v. CIMEX and the Erosion of Foreign Sovereign Immunity
What Congress giveth, Congress can take away. -
Closing the Front Door: The Case for DOJ’s Bulk Data Security Program
No one hacked us. Adversaries are buying U.S. troops’ location data on the open market. Privacy laws can’t stop them, but DOJ can. -
The FBI Proved Comey’s Innocence. The DOJ Indicted Anyway.
In the seashells case, the FBI searched for proof that gangsters used “86” to mean “kill” and that Comey knew it. Now an expert says their theory is “preposterous.” -
The Most Important Phrase in GSA’s Revised AI Clause Has No Definition
The revision fixed much of the first draft’s overreach, but the clause still doesn’t say where the government’s data protections begin and end.
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Featured Podcast
Live Coverage
For real-time updates of Lawfare’s coverage of the Trump administration’s legal challenges, follow on Bluesky or below:
What's Old Is New Again
With every new administration comes new promises and new actions on national security. But what’s “new” has often been proposed or even tried before—which means there’s a good chance Lawfare has already analyzed some of the legal and policy implications they present. So we’re making that past content readily accessible as it becomes newly relevant.
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The Return of Schedule F
The Trump administration has proposed new rules to remove due process protections for thousands of federal employees. -
Donald Trump and the Department of Justice
On the loyalty of lawyers and the attitude of voters -
Trump’s Attacks on Justice Department Independence, Then and Now
What the first Trump administration carried out slowly, the new administration is doing at once.
Documents
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White House Releases National Security Science & Technology Strategy
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Justice Department Releases Opinion on Military Arrests Near Borders
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White House Releases Executive Orders on Quantum Computing
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White House Releases Executive Order on AI
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Former Cuban President Raúl Castro Indicted
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Trump Administration Releases 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy
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Southern Poverty Law Center Indicted on Federal Fraud Charges
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U.S. Government Agrees to $1.25 Million Settlement in Michael Flynn Suit
The Lawfare Podcast 
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Lawfare Daily: The Complicated Past and Present of Ukraine’s Relations with Poland
A Ukranian historian breaks down the current diplomatic dispute between Ukraine and Poland. -
Lawfare Daily: Vinh Nguyen, Elham Tabassi, and Kat Duffy on How to Design a Better AI Regulator
Discussing the FINRA-style AI regulator reportedly under White House review. -
Lawfare Daily: Trans and Indispensable in the Trump White House
Former CIA officer Julia Curlee discusses the purge of the NSC in the first 70 days of Trump’s second presidency.
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Lawfare Live: The Trials of the Trump Administration, August 14
Join the Lawfare team at 4 pm ET for a discussion of the litigation surrounding the Trump administration.
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Congress
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A Senate Committee Voted to Hold Fauci in Contempt. Now What?
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Lawfare No Bull: Confirmation Hearing for Attorney General Nominee Todd Blanche
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The Monroe Doctrine Was Never a Blank Check for Presidential War
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Lawfare No Bull: Confirmation Hearing for Director of National Intelligence Nominee Jay Clayton
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Lawfare is a non-profit multimedia publication dedicated to “Hard National Security Choices.” We provide non-partisan, timely analysis of thorny legal and policy issues through our written, audio, and other content—all of which you can find here.
