The Week that Was

On Lawfare Daily, Benjamin Wittes spoke with Anastasiia Lapatina and Eric Ciaramella about Ukraine’s military incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast. They discussed the details of the operation, Ukraine’s potential military objectives, the political implications of Ukraine occupying Russian territory, and more.

Lapatina examined Ukraine’s military operation in Russia, analyzing its scale, secrecy, and objectives. She also discussed Russia’s chaotic response to the incursion and emphasized the surprising amount of support for the operation from the West.

On the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the Geneva Conventions, Paul Romita, Karin Landgren, and Matthew Blainey emphasized the importance of the treaties in protecting civilians in war zones and noted the UN Security Council’s struggle to enforce international humanitarian law in contemporary armed conflicts.

On Lawfare Daily, Natalie Orpett spoke with Tara Varma about France’s recent parliamentary elections. They discussed what the election outcome will mean for French politics, France’s role in the European Union and NATO, and more.

Orpett described the long and complex negotiation process behind the short-lived plea agreements for three defendants in the 9/11 case at Guantanamo Bay. She criticized Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s decision to withdraw from the agreements, arguing that plea deals represent the only realistic path to resolving these cases and providing closure for 9/11 victims’ families.

Aaron Arnett discussed Emir Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al Sabah’s decision to suspend Kuwait’s National Assembly. He argued that the suspension is a step backward for democracy in Kuwait and suggested that the U.S. should encourage Kuwait to restore and reform the assembly.

William Byrd assessed the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan three years after their 2021 takeover, highlighting their consolidated control, internal cohesion, and better-than-expected economic management. He noted that although the regime appears stable, it faces potential risks because of its opium ban, relations with Pakistan, worsening corruption, and more.

In this week’s edition of Lawfare’s Foreign Policy Essay series, Dr. Nicolas Stockhammer and Colin P. Clarke, Ph.D. summarized recent Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-K) terrorist operations in Europe, Iran, Turkey, and Russia. The authors highlighted IS-K’s evolving tactics, target selection, and recruitment strategies, including the group’s increased focus on young recruits and use of social media platforms such as TikTok and Telegram.

On Rational Security, Scott Anderson, Quinta Jurecic, and Alan Rozenshtein discussed the week’s big national security news stories, including Ukraine’s invasion of Russia, the riots in the United Kingdom, and the hack of former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, allegedly perpetrated by Iran.

Jurecic compared Trump’s campaign hack to Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. She examined how various institutions—including the press, intelligence community, and political campaigns—are responding differently this time and discussed the broader challenges to election security.

In the latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren examined Trump’s campaign hack and leak, the U.S. government’s plan to develop a policy for catastrophic cyber incident insurance, the Fifth Circuit’s decision declaring geofence warrants unconstitutional, and more.

Orrin Kerr discussed the Fifth Circuit’s decision in United States v. Smith, which declared geofence warrants unconstitutional. He argued that the decision creates a circuit split and misinterprets Supreme Court precedent on warrant particularity, and warned about the potential far-reaching implications of the ruling, including the dismantling of digital surveillance techniques used in national security investigations.

On Lawfare Daily, Kevin Frazier and Eugenia Lostri spoke with Chris Hoofnagle about his new textbook, “Cybersecurity in Context,” coauthored with Golden G. Richard III. They discussed the theory, history, and future of cybersecurity and the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to teaching the subject.

On Lawfare Daily, Wittes spoke with Katie Moussouris about bug bounties. They discussed the origins of bug bounties, their role in cybersecurity, their limitations, their recent misuse, and more.

Julien Berman and Rozenshtein analyzed the litigation challenging the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACAA), which would ban TikTok in the United States unless ByteDance—TikTok’s parent company—divests. They argued that the government’s reliance on redacted classified evidence threatens public trust in the legal system and prevents the court from fully evaluating the law’s implications.

Jane Bambauer analyzed the U.S. government’s arguments in defense of PAFACAA. She argued that the threat of “covert content manipulation” is largely empty, citing research demonstrating that social media users are difficult to persuade against their preexisting beliefs and that algorithmic content curation has limited impact on user opinions.

On Chatter, David Priess sat down with Gina Bennett to discuss her career in the intelligence community. They spoke about her book on the intersection between national security and parenting, motherhood and work pressures, the value of teaching, and more.

Robert (Bobby) Chesney and Steve Slick announced UT-Austin’s? 2024 “Inman Award” recipients, recognizing outstanding student research and writing on topics related to intelligence and national security. Jemima Baar received the award, Daniel Atherton was the graduate semifinalist, and Caroline Heffern was the undergraduate semifinalist.

On Lawfare Daily, Wittes spoke with Rachel Maddow about the second season of her new podcast series. They discussed the ideological aftermath of World War II on the American far right, the rise and legacy of Sen. Joe McCarthy, and more.

On Aug. 15, Wittes was joined by Anna Bower and Roger Parloff for this week’s episode of “Lawfare Live: Trump’s Trials and Tribulations.” They discussed Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request for additional time in Trump’s D.C. case, the upcoming sentencing decision in Trump’s New York case, and more.

And to support Lawfare’s coverage of the Trump Trials—a first-of-its-kind project dedicated to providing in-depth coverage of the ongoing criminal proceedings against Trump in Washington, Florida, New York, and Georgia—please consider making a contribution here. Lawfare’s talented correspondents and analysts discuss the latest developments in the cases, explain the complex legal issues they raise, and consider what might come next in a wide range of content, including written analysis, podcasts, live and recorded virtual events, primary source document repositories, and infographics.

And that was the week that was.

Compiled by Berman.