Today's Headlines and Commentary

President Trump ordered intelligence and law enforcement officials to declassify documents and text messages related to the ongoing Russia investigation despite protests from the intelligence community about the dangers of declassifying secret methods of investigation, says the New York Times.

China’s previous tit-for-tat tariff retaliation strategy has failed to deter the Trump administration from escalating its trade war, and a cornered Beijing is seeking alternative options to end the trade war, reports the Times.

Despite the rapidly escalating trade war between China and the U.S., stock markets in Japan, Germany, China, the U.S. and Korea are still up, reports the Times.

A United Nations Fact Finding Mission report calls for an overhaul of Myanmar’s army, the Tatmadaw, and alleges based on collected evidence that the Tatmadaw committed the “gravest crimes under international law” against the Rohingya people in the state of Rakhine, according to the Times. The report was released on Tuesday.

The Trump administration disowned U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s plan for an Iran-focused U.N. meeting next week, choosing instead to chair a debate over nonproliferation, constitutionalism and sovereignty to avoid clashes with Great Britain, France and Iran, reports the Washington Post.

Islamic State has resurfaced in Libya with more than a dozen attacks in the last year amidst current governmental instability. Last week, gunmen wearing explosive vests stormed Libya’s state oil company, according to the Wall Street Journal. Libya has Africa’s largest oil reserves, and a resurgence of terrorism threatens the country’s oil output.

Stewart Patrick and Kyle L. Evanoff argued in Foreign Affairs for increased international cooperation to achieve security in outer space.

Yesterday on Lawfare

Suzanne Spaulding and Harvey Rishikof argued that the U.S. should do more to counter the Russian threat to information systems, as this threat is eroding American confidence in the justice system.

Matthew Kahn uploaded the full text of Trump administration’s recently filed application for an emergency stay in the ongoing litigation related to the transgender servicemember ban.

Benjamin Wittes posted the job announcement: Lawfare is hiring a Director of Operations!

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