Main Articles

Main Articles, Volume 16

Flying Saucers and the Ivory Dome: Congressional Oversight Concerning Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena

Dillon Guthrie* [This essay is available in PDF at this link] Abstract Once dismissed for decades, the topic of unidentified anomalous phenomena (“UAP”), previously labeled as unidentified aerial phenomena and unidentified flying objects (“UFOs”), now attracts the sustained attention of Congress. In the annual U.S. defense and intelligence authorization measure enacted in each of the last four years, lawmakers have included bipartisan provisions tightening oversight of this matter. One Senate-passed UAP bill would even have directed the federal government to exercise eminent domain over any “technologies of unknown origin and biological evidence of non-human intelligence.” Relenting to this pressure, the […]

Book Reviews, Main Articles, Volume 15

Book Review: Hidden in Plain Sight: Redefining the Field of National Security (reviewing Race and National Security (Matiangai Sirleaf ed., Oxford Univ. Press 2023))

Aziza Ahmed [*] [This essay is available in PDF at this link] Throughout his campaign for presidency, Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. As President, he kept his word. Only days after he took office, the new administration released the first version of the Executive Order: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.1 The first Executive Order, however, did not say the word Muslim. Instead, it listed only Muslim-majority countries as necessary for restrictions on entry. The Executive Order also trafficked in stereotypes about Muslims, such as the need to ban people who

Main Articles, Volume 15

The Significance of a Judicial Power to Identify Major Questions and Shield State Secrets for the Future of Foreign Affairs and National Security Governance

Karen C. Sokol [*] [This essay is available in PDF at this link] Foreign relations and national security law scholars devote significant attention to the expansion of executive power resulting from broad delegations of statutory authority or inaction by Congress and from the considerable deference that courts often afford the executive in cases challenging its actions in the spheres of foreign affairs and national security. Recent decisions of the Roberts Court, however, make clear that scholars should pay just as much—and in some respects perhaps more— attention to the expansion of judicial power. In this essay, I show why by comparing the

Main Articles, Volume 15

Large Constellations of Small Satellites: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Illegal

David A. Koplow [This essay is available in PDF at this link] The most exciting and far-reaching contemporary developments regarding human activities in outer space arise from the recent drastic reductions in the costs of building, launching, and operating satellites, and from the concomitant sudden emergence of large constellations of small, inexpensive, privately-owned spacecraft. These satellites—devoted to highly remunerative functions such as communications (bringing high-speed, affordable internet to underserved constituencies), remote sensing (facilitating land use planning, weather forecasting, and emergency search and rescue), and support for military operations (in Ukraine and elsewhere)—already number in the thousands and will soon reach the

Main Articles, Volume 15

Performative Economic Sanctions: How Sanctions Work Without Economic Harm

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”] Katniss Xuejiao Li[*] [This essay is available in PDF at this link] This Article proposes and develops a concept of performative economic sanctions, challenging the traditional notion that sanctions must inflict eco- nomic harm to be effective. It examines the sanctions practices of China and Russia, unveiling a strategic approach that is different from the conventional model of coercive sanctions. Unlike typical sanctions which aimed at economic harm on the targets, performative sanctions leverage rhetoric that appeals to nationalist sentiments, alongside a

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