Model Diplomacy
World101
Council of Councils
Think Global Health
The Trump administration leaves a legacy of confusion over cybersecurity issues with few positives.
About the Expert
Expert Bio
John B. Bellinger III is adjunct senior fellow for international and national security law at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is also a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, DC, where he advises sovereign governments and companies on a variety of international law and U.S. national security law issues.
From 2005 to 2009, Bellinger was the legal advisor for the U.S. Department of State under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He led the U.S. delegation in numerous treaty negotiations and presentations to international bodies and represented the United States before the International Court of Justice in Mexico v. United States of America (Medellin) and before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal. Before his confirmation as legal advisor, he managed Secretary Rice's Senate confirmation and codirected her State Department transition team. Bellinger served from 2001 to 2005 as senior associate counsel to the president and legal advisor to the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House, where he was the principal lawyer for the national security advisor, the NSC, and the NSC staff. He previously served as counsel for national security matters in the criminal division of the Justice Department during the Clinton administration, as special counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and as special assistant to Director of Central Intelligence William H. Webster.
Bellinger is one of four U.S. members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which nominates judges to the International Court of Justice. He speaks and writes regularly on public international and national security law issues. His op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and International Herald Tribune. Bellinger received his AB from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1982, his JD from Harvard Law School in 1986, and an MA in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia in 1991.
Affiliations:
- Arnold & Porter LLP, partner
- American Ditchley Foundation, board of directors, member
- American Law Institute, Executive Council, member
- Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, board of directors, member
- Salzburg Global Seminar, board of directors, member
- Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on International Law, member
- Stimson Center, board of directors, member
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The 2001 law that authorized the U.S. war against al-Qaeda and its affiliates is not an appropriate justification for the offensive against ISIS and other emerging terrorist groups, says CFR’s John Bellinger.
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Tighter Western sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine may be necessary but could bring unwelcome consequences, explains CFR’s John Bellinger.
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The vote by some Crimean citizens to join Russia violates Ukrainian and international law and could come back to haunt Moscow, its primary backer, says CFR’s John Bellinger.
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The Obama administration’s strongest case for intervening in Syria rests on the global security risks posed by the regime’s suspected use of chemical weapons, says CFR’s John B. Bellinger.
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President Obama’s counterterrorism speech made strides toward greater transparency but missed opportunities to articulate a vision for moving beyond a perpetual war footing, says CFR’s John Bellinger.
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What is the Obama administration’s legal justification for targeted killings? CFR national security expert John Bellinger explores this question as well as others with significant implications for U.S. counterterrorism.
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Terrorism and Counterterrorism
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. -
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Within days of the 9/11 attacks, Congress authorized U.S. military and intelligence agencies to kill and detain terrorists. It is time to revise that authority on matters like detentions and drone attacks, says CFR’s John B. Bellinger III.
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Osama bin Laden’s death is a real and symbolic blow to al-Qaeda, and its stature in the Middle East is already diminished by the pro-democracy movements in the region, but the group remains lethal. Seven CFR experts discuss.
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