Student Articles – Harvard National Security Journal

Shining Light on the “Going Dark” Phenomenon: U.S. Efforts to Overcome the Use of End-to-End Encryption by Islamic State Supporters

September 3, 2021

Ryan Pereira [*] [This article is available as a PDF at this link.] Introduction On May 3, 2015, two individuals committed to the Islamic State (IS) and armed with high-powered assault rifles opened fire at a contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad held in Garland, Texas.[1] The two gunmen injured an off-duty police officer before another officer shot and killed them.[2] After the attack, the U.S. government disclosed that Elton Simpson, one of the two gunmen, had been in direct contact with Junaid Hussain, an IS external attack planner located in Syria, using Twitter direct message and Surespot, […]

A Quantum Leap in International Law on Cyberwarfare: An Analysis of International Cooperation with Quantum Computing on the Horizon

November 8, 2018

In our latest Student Article, Dominic Rota, Belmont University College of Law ’18, discusses the implications of the advent of quantum computing on the international legal regulation of cyberwarfare.

Online Edition, Student Articles

Drones as Crime-Fighting Tools in 2020: Legal and Normative Considerations

January 8, 2018

It’s 2020 and Boston has become a haven for homicide. Believing that an uptick in drug trafficking is responsible for the uptick in homicides—and left behind by its inability to break into the traffickers’ encrypted devices and communications—the Boston Police Department has a potential solution to its unsolved homicide problem: drones.

Student Articles

Stingray Surveillance: Legal Rules by Statute or Subsumption?

July 15, 2016

by Christopher Izant “[I]t would be very unfortunate if privacy protection in the 21st century were left primarily to the federal courts using the blunt instrument of the Fourth Amendment. Legislatures, elected by the people, are in a better position than we are to assess and respond to the changes that have already occurred and those that almost certainly will take place in the future.”[1] The use of cell site simulators by law enforcement presents the most recent case of technology outpacing the law. Without a governing statute or Supreme Court ruling, law enforcement agencies’ procedures for using this technology

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U.S. v. Al Bahlul: Where It’s Been and Where It’s Going

March 22, 2016

On November 13, 2001 then-President George W. Bush issued a military order that would forever be remembered. His military order “called for the [S]ecretary of [D]efense to detain non-citizens accused of international terrorism.” Specially, the order applied to members of al Qaeda, and “all those who have engaged in, aided, or conspired to commit international terrorist acts against the United States or its citizens.” The Secretary of Defense “[was] charged with establishing military tribunals (also called military commissions) to conduct trials of non-citizens accused of terrorism either in the United States or in other parts of the world.” Then-President Bush’s military order created the United States (U.S.) Military Commissions that have been the center of continued national and international criticism.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Online Edition, Student Articles

The Hidden Cost of Drone Combat: Soldiers’ Mental Health

April 24, 2015

While policymakers may argue that military drone combat presents no risk to American forces, the battle scars for drone operators are more psychological than physical. We should support the mental health of those soldiers we task with operating drones.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons