The Just Security Podcast

Episodes

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  After the Midterms: What to Expect on Congressional Oversight 06.11.2026 30m

  Following the historic midterm election outcome, Andy Wright joins host Ryan Goodman to discuss the potential for oversight and investigations of the Trump administration in the next Congress. Show Notes: When the Executive Branch Resists: Five Questions Congress Should Ask by Tim StrettonTwo Paths to Congressional Litigation Against the Executive Branch by Jonathan NashCollection: Questions for Congress
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  Carol Rosenberg on the Past and Future of Guantanamo's Military Courts 28.10.2026 39m

  Veteran journalist Carol Rosenberg joins co-hosts Tess Bridgeman and Ryan Goodman to discuss her reporting on the upcoming trials at Guantanamo. Related Articles: The USS Cole Case Edges Toward Trial (Sept. 18, 2026)Military Judge Orders Last Minute Sanity Board in USS Cole Bombing Case (Sept. 22, 2026)Guantanamo Dispatches: Prosecutors Turn to Remote Testimony For First-Ever Capital Trial at Guantanamo (Sept. 24, 2026)Innocent or Guilty, Accused USS Cole Bomber May Never Go Free (Sept....
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  How State and Local Governments Can Fight Back Against Authoritarianism 09.10.2026 48m

  Erwin Chemerinsky and Aziz Huq discuss the powers and authorities that state and local governments can use to fight back against authoritarianism and serve as a check against federal overreach. Related Articles: “Fight Back: How States Can Counter Authoritarianism” Series, Sept. 21, 2026Erwin Chemerinsky and Aziz Z. Huq, Introduction to “Fight Back: How States Can Counter Authoritarianism” Series (Aug. 20, 2026)Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Commandeering, Coercion, and Executive Power (Aug. 21, 2026)...
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  What Happened at the 2026 UN General Assembly? 02.10.2026 36m

  Daniel Forti and Mariea Sekijima of the International Crisis Group join host Viola Gienger to discuss the most important developments from the 2026 United Nations General Assembly’s high-level week. Related Articles: As Leaders Gather at the U.N. General Assembly, Competition May Outdo Cooperation by Richard Gowan, Daniel Forti and Mariea Sekijima, Sept. 17, 2026Reading the Signals of China’s U.N. Security Council Role in the Afghanistan Mission Renewal by Richard Gowan and Daniel Forti, July...
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  What's Behind the Justice Department's FARA Announcement? 25.09.2026 35m

  Host David Aaron joins Adam Hickey to discuss an unusual announcement from the Department of Justice on the Foreign Agents Registration Act and Section 951. Show Note: Office of Public Affairs | Liability for Unregistered Foreign Agents | United States Department of Justice
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  25 Years After 9/11: The State of U.S. National Security, Intelligence, and Alliances Today 11.09.2026 46m

  Co-hosts Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman are joined by Daniel Fried and Nicholas Rasmussen to discuss how the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the United States’ responses to it have shaped U.S. national security, foreign policy, and alliances. Show Note (related articles): 9/11 Then and Now: How it Shapes Us 25 Years On A Quarter Century After 9/11: Lessons Learned and Lost The Looming Terrorist Threats to America
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  Has the United States Violated the Law of Armed Conflict in the Iran War? 03.09.2026 45m

  Host Ryan Goodman is joined by Tom Dannenbaum, Margaret Donovan, and Todd Huntley to discuss whether the United States has violated the law of armed conflict in its conduct of the Iran war. They discuss what evidence would be required to make that determination and what to watch for as the war continues. Show Notes: Collection: Iran, Israel and the United States at War (2025-2026 Operations) (continually updated)Mark Nevitt, Five “Blockades” and One Legal Problem: Naval Enforcement in t...
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  Murder on the High Seas Part VI 31.08.2026 57m

  Co-Hosts Tess Bridgeman and Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane to discuss how the Trump administration’s campaign of lethal strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific has escalated and evolved in the year since the strikes began. The conversation examines the administration’s legal justifications for the strikes, the potential for escalation to targets on land, and what the creation of Joint Task Force - Western Hemisphere c...
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  Uncharted Territory: The Alien Terrorist Removal Court Hears Its First Case 05.08.2026 35m

  Host Dani Schulkin is joined by Steve Vladeck and Jess Dawgert to discuss the first-ever case before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court. They explain what the court is, why it sat unused for thirty years, and what its first case means for due process and the immigration system. Show Note (related articles and links): https://www.justsecurity.org/148285/the-alien-terrorist-removal-courts-first-case/ https://www.justsecurity.org/149897/alien-terrorist-removal-court-immigration/https:/...
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  What Next at Int’l Criminal Court After the Prosecutor’s Removal? 30.07.2026 42m

  Host Ryan Goodman is joined by guests Rebecca Hamilton and Alex Whiting, experts with deep experience in the practice and study of international criminal law, to discuss the recent vote by states to remove Karim Khan as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, effective immediately, for sexual misconduct against a junior staff member. They discuss what this investigation – and its defense – has meant for the ICC as an institution and for its ongoing cases, and what comes next for the I...
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  Reporting at a Crossroads (Co-Hosted with the Reiss Center on Law and Security) 20.05.2026 58m

  A free and independent press has long been understood as a core element of healthy and secure democracies. Particularly in the realm of national security and foreign policy, news reporting and investigations are an integral source of information that enables the American public to evaluate the decisions of their elected officials. Yet today the press is facing new or newly acute challenges arising from the executive branch, Congress, and even the media industry itself—all unfolding against th...
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  The Latest on International Anti-Corruption Enforcement 14.05.2026 37m

  Over the past year, U.S. anti-corruption policy has undergone significant shifts — from changes in FCPA enforcement to sanctions rollbacks and institutional drawdowns — raising questions about America’s global role. At the same time, anti-corruption movements are gaining momentum worldwide. Dani Schulkin speaks with Richard Nephew and Bruce Swartz about what these trends mean for enforcement, international cooperation, and the future of the anti-corruption agenda. Show Note: Three Less...
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  Murder on the High Seas Part V 07.05.2026 52m

  Co-Hosts Tess Bridgeman and Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane to examine the escalating U.S. campaign of killings of suspected drug traffickers at sea under “Operation Southern Spear” following the January 2026 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The conversation explores the U.S. military operations in Venezuela and the intensifying campaign of lethal strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, unpacks the Trump administration’s legal justificat...
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  Former FBI General Counsel Weissmann on FISA Reforms 23.04.2026 1h 2m

  Should the FBI be allowed to access the content of Americans’ communications–emails, texts and phone calls–without obtaining a judicial warrant? That’s a key question facing Congress, with a looming deadline of April 30th. The question is wrapped up in the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702, which will sunset at the end of this month. I had the opportunity to interview Andrew Weissmann, who served as FBI General Counsel in addition to other positio...
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  Hungary After Orban 16.04.2026 37m

  Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary election brought a major political shift. After 16 years in power, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party lost to opposition leader Peter Magyar, whose coalition now holds a strong parliamentary majority. The result marks a new chapter in Hungary’s politics after years of debate about democratic accountability, media independence, and relations within the European Union. In this episode, Szuzanna Vegh joins Viola Gienger to explore how the opposition achie...
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  Sudan Enters Its Fourth Year of Civil War 15.04.2026 40m

  The North African country of Sudan marks a grim anniversary this week: the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been fighting a civil war for three years, creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. About 14 million people have been forced to flee the fighting, often multiple times, and 4.4 million have fled to other countries, mostly to Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt, but also some to Europe. Today, one in four Sudanese is displaced. The U.N.’s Food and Agricultural...
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  What Does it Really Mean to be a U.S. Territory? 10.02.2026 39m

  Trump's threats to forcibly take control of Greenland brought to the headlines the alarming notion of the United States seeking new territories, from a European ally. But the United States already faces pressing issues of territorial control and governance. In this podcast, we share the perspectives of two leaders who work on democracy, equity, and self-determination issues in current U.S. territories. Why does the United States hold territories? How are they governed? And what does the contr...
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  Can the U.S. Seize Russian Flagged Oil Tankers? 08.01.2026 42m

  Prior to the U.S. attacks that dislodged president Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, American forces have for weeks been blockading U.S.-sanctioned ships carrying Venezuelan oil. In mid-December, the United States began boarding, and seizing, tankers in the so‑called “shadow fleet” that move sanctioned oil across the globe, starting with stateless vessels. In a dramatic turn, this week the U.S. Coast Guard, with U.S. and allied military support, intercepted and boarded two Russian-flagged oil tank...
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  Can the U.S. Still Lead on Anti-Corruption? Understanding the Combating Global Corruption Act 18.12.2025 38m

  The Combating Global Corruption Act marks a new chapter in how the U.S. approaches corruption abroad. For the first time, the State Department must publicly rank foreign governments based on their anti-corruption efforts–evaluations that may carry real consequences for foreign aid, diplomacy, and sanctions. Yet the rollout comes at a moment of contradiction. As the United States positions itself to evaluate corruption abroad, it is facing an erosion of accountability mechanisms at home. In th...
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  Murder on the High Seas Part IV 02.12.2025 57m

  The Trump administration has continued its campaign of lethal strikes against suspected drug traffickers at sea. To date, 83 people have reportedly been killed in 21 strikes. The strikes have met increasing scrutiny both inside the United States and abroad, with some close U.S. allies reportedly suspending intelligence sharing over concerns of the illegality of the campaign, and recently surfaced reporting of the deliberate killing of two strike survivors receiving rare bipartisan attention f...