If, like me, you assume that virtually no transnational challenges can be solved by the United States alone, then you agree that they require multilateral solutions and the engagement of global institutions and a host of other stakeholders including local civil society, the private sector, philanthropic groups and NGOs. Though the phenomenon of global governance is old, serious research into understanding how the world acts collectively to manage and mitigate shared challenges is quite new. Read more »

It has recently been reported that the Obama administration is seriously considering transferring the lead executive authority for targeted killings from the CIA to the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). President Obama should commit to implementing this in his forthcoming promised reforms of U.S. targeted killing policies. Read more »

Policymakers are attempting to broker a bi-partisan deal that would allow undocumented people living in the United States could apply for permanent legal residency. Democrats want those individuals who either entered the United States illegally, or entered legally and then overstayed their visas (fully 40% of the 11 million undocumented workers) to be able “to earn citizenship so they can come out of the shadows,” in the White House’s words. Republicans, meanwhile, seek to “secure the border,” which specifically means the Department of Homeland Security certifying that the  U.S.-Mexico border is 100% under surveillance, and 90% of those who cross illegally at “high risk” sections were apprehended. Read more »

In the New York Times, Mark Mazzetti has an excellent account of how, in 2004, the CIA’s counterterrorism efforts in Pakistan merged from capturing suspected terrorists to killing them with armed drones. The important contribution from Mazzetti’s reporting is that he reveals the extent to which the CIA based its support for this policy shift on a May 2004 report by John Helgerson, the Agency’s inspector general. The semi-redacted report—“Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities, September 2001-October 2003”—is available here. As Mazzetti writes: Read more »

Today, Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Diaa Hadid wrote a story for the Associated Press that describes growing cross-border collaboration between al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI) and Jabhat al-Nusrah, or al-Nusrah Front, in Syria. An Iraqi government spokesperson is quoted as describing the border area as “a nest of terrorist cells,” while an anonymous Jordanian counterterrorism official stated that the two groups were working, “with all possible means, including weapons, fighters and training.” This is not a new development. In December, the State Department claimed that the al-Nusrah Front was merely an extension of AQI, and was thus labeled a “Foreign Terrorist Organization.” Read more »

The CFR’s David Rockefeller Studies Program is hiring a research associate to work in New York City, to support the work of the Douglas Dillon Fellow, which happens to be me. The position requires someone who is super motivated, curious about foreign policy issues, well-educated, and/or experienced in producing written content. This generally involves various administrative tasks, research, editing, and writing—your own stuff, and ideally some co-authored pieces. Read more »