The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post

Elizabeth McElvein analyzed both Hillary Clinton's and Donald Trump’s reaction to the Orlando massacre through the lens of the politics surrounding immigration.

Paul Rosenzweig sketched out a few proposed steps for a new doctrine of homeland security. He also flagged a new question that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol will begin asking individuals entering the United States under the Visa Waiver Program and the traditional I-94 visa program about their social media accounts.

Bruce Riedel warned that Yemen may be irreparably partitioned despite the United Nations’ latest “roadmap” to peace. Asher Susser pointed out that Israel’s greatest strategic concern has shifted from the united power of their Arab neighbors to their collective weakness and instability. Sarah Yerkes highlighted the one-year anniversary of the brutal attack in Tunisia that claimed 38 beachgoers and the country’s ensuing economic struggles. Helen Murillo flagged a Hollywood insurance dispute in California that must determine whether Hamas’s attacks on Israel constitute “war” or “terrorism.”

Samir Saran traced the ongoing encryption debate in emerging markets where policymakers are torn between privacy, commercial, and security considerations. Rishabh Bhandari filled us in on an Indian RTI activist’s unsuccessful petition for the Indian Supreme Court to ban WhatsApp and all other end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms.

Nora Ellingsen continued her coverage of U.S. criminal cases of young men who are seeking to leave the United States and join the Islamic State.

Jeremy Rabkin and Ariel Rabkin urged U.S. policymakers to permit U.S. companies to launch hack-back operations against perpetrators of cybercrime. Benjamin Wittes disclosed that Lawfare was the subject of a denial of service attack that ostensibly “stemm[ed] from machines in Latvia masquerading as googlebot crawlers.” We have not hacked back—yet.

James Andrew Lewis stressed that the U.S. intelligence community doesn't pursue economic espionage—even if no one believes it. Carrie Cordero flagged the purchase of Wright USA, a major insurance provider for high-level U.S. government officials, by a Chinese company with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Stewart Baker posted the latest episode of Steptoe Cyberlaw, wherein Fred Kaplan features as a guest to discuss his new book on cyberwarfare.