Matthew C. Waxman examines whether cyberattacks are a use of force as defined by the UN Charter.

Civil liberties will present the winner of the 2012 U.S. presidential elections with challenges related to counterterrorism powers and practices, as well as challenges related to privacy rights, says CFR's Matthew C. Waxman.

Recent events in Darfur raise the familiar question of whether international law facilitates the kind of early, decisive, and coherent action needed to effectively combat genocide. Matthew C. Waxman argues that putting decisions about international intervention solely in the hands of the UN Security Council risks undermining the threat or use of intervention when it may be most potent in stopping mass atrocities.

A leaked government document has recharged the controversy over the use of lethal force against U.S. citizens. CFR's Matthew C. Waxman highlights three legal considerations.

In order to gain more congressional support for national security and foreign policy measures, "The Obama administration will need to pick its legislative priorities more deliberately, engage with allies and opponents in Congress more actively, and be willing to negotiate compromises or wage aggressive campaigns on key issues," says Matthew C. Waxman.

Kenneth Anderson and Matthew C. Waxman say some view automated technology developments as a crisis for the laws of war. But provided we start now to incorporate ethical and legal norms into weapons design, the incremental movement from automation to genuine machine autonomy already underway might well be made to serve the ends of law on the battlefield.

Matthew C. Waxman argues that international law still plays a powerful role in justifying or delegitimizing the case for military action. Just like in the Cuban missile crisis, the United States needs to present a plausible case for self-defense in order to strike Iran.

Post-9/11 U.S. counterterrorism and surrounding civil liberties issues are unlikely to stray far from currently policy no matter who is in the White House in 2013, says CFR's Matthew Waxman.

The NYPD's new "Domain Awareness System" raises familiar questions about privacy and transparency that are likely to spark a debate at multiple levels of government, writes CFR's Matthew Waxman.

Targeted killings are up in Yemen and military trials have resumed in Guantanamo. CFR's Matthew Waxman assesses the White House's evolving legal basis for its war on al-Qaeda.

Civil liberties will present the winner of the 2012 U.S. presidential elections with challenges related to counterterrorism powers and practices, as well as challenges related to privacy rights, says CFR's Matthew C. Waxman.

News of planned military trials for five 9/11 suspects underscores the Obama administration's need to more forcefully defend the necessity of military tribunals if they are to have legitimacy at home and abroad, says CFR's Matthew Waxman.

Matthew C. Waxman discusses U.S. attorney general Eric Holder's address providing the Obama administration's legal rationale for targeted killings of certain al Qaeda suspects--including U.S. citizens.

Matthew C. Waxman examines the role of local police in counterterrorism intelligence.

Detainee policy that would mandate military custody for al-Qaeda suspects captured in the United States could have a detrimental impact on U.S. counterterrorism operations, say CFR legal experts Matthew C. Waxman and John B. Bellinger III.

Adam Segal and Matthew C. Waxman discuss the London Conference on Cyberspace and argue that progress toward a vision of cybersecurity and freedom will be incremental and achieved through multiple arrangements between state and private actors rather than through a global accord.

Which policies have worked and which ones need work ten years after the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history? CFR experts examine ten issues that have preoccupied U.S. planners.

Guantanamo Bay, where hundreds of terror suspects have been detained since 9/11, has underscored the need for flexibility and careful balancing in detainee policy to confront twenty-first-century threats, writes CFR's Matthew Waxman.

Matthew C. Waxman discusses the lawsuit challenging U.S. participation in the Libyan military mission.

Matthew C. Waxman examines whether cyberattacks are a use of force as defined by the UN Charter.

U.S. drone strikes and "kill/capture" missions against al-Qaeda operatives, particularly in Pakistan and Yemen, have gained new attention and notoriety this spring. Four experts debate the legality and efficacy of the controversial counterterrorism strategy.

Recognizing the limitations of current international systems based in The Hague, David A. Kaye provides a strategy for promoting national-level justice and accountability mechanisms to prosecute perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes.

Daniel L. Byman and Matthew Waxman discuss six reasons why it's been so tough to get Muammar al-Qaddafi to quit.