Viola Gienger
@violagienger.bsky.social
Writer, editor, professional questioner in foreign affairs/natsec. Washington Sr. Editor @justsecurity.bsky.social. Posts=HedsUp. Like=notable
Leading First Amendment scholars back Roth v Trump, our challenge to Trump’s effort to purge the White House press corps of journalists who decline to describe the world in his terms. knightcolumbia.org/documents/7v...
Amicus Brief of First Amendment Scholars in Support of Plaintiffs
knightcolumbia.org
⚡️️️️ EU responds to Trump diesel deal with new Russia energy sanctions. A key focus of the latest proposed sanctions listings is Russia's oil processing, refining, and exporting capacity, with 31 listings spanning the breadth of Russia, from St. Petersburg to Sakhalin.
EU responds to Trump diesel deal with new Russia energy sanctions
A key focus of the latest proposed sanctions listings is Russia's oil processing, refining, and exporting capacity, with 31 listings spanning the breadth of Russia, from St. Petersburg to Sakhalin.
kyivindependent.com
Senior intelligence and election oversight lawmakers want social media companies and AI developers to strengthen safeguards against false voting information, foreign influence campaigns and deceptive AI content: www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...
Democrats warn tech firms of election security ‘backsliding’ ahead of midterms
Senior intelligence and election oversight lawmakers want social media companies and AI developers to strengthen safeguards against false voting information, foreign influence campaigns and deceptive ...
nextgov.com
A recent Anthropic Threat Intelligence report "gives direct evidence that generative AI is being incorporated into the machinery of cross-border repression, enabling authoritarian governments and their proxies to" identify, monitor, and target diaspora and exiled dissidents around the world.
Just Security@justsecurity.org · 3w agoGenerative AI is being incorporated into the machinery of transnational repression. @citizenlab.ca's @katepundyk.bsky.social, @sanstis.bsky.social and @mmichae1sen.bsky.social on how frontier AI companies can curb the misuse of their technology by authoritarian governments:
The US "has long insisted that objects sustaining an enemy’s war effort are lawful targets." So Russia’s diesel facilities would be legit military targets for Ukraine. By easing sanctions on Russia's diesel, the US may "bear responsibility for aiding or assisting Russia’s unlawful use of force."
Just Security@justsecurity.org · 3w ago@mikeschmitt.bsky.social and @rgoodlaw.bsky.social on the international law implications of the Trump administration's diesel agreement with Russia:
The state may pronounce a death sentence, but someone else must live with carrying it out. The U.S. government has a special responsibility to not impose avoidable harm to the service members who will carry out Nidal Hasan's execution, writes @hettiealiano.bsky.social:
The Moral Cost of Killing on Command
The U.S. government has a special responsibility to not impose avoidable harm to those who will carry out Nidal Hasan's execution.
justsecurity.org
2/ The #GTMODispatches are for you if you’re interested in: - The rule of law - Justice and finality for the victims of 9/11 & USS Cole bombing - How the judges & lawyers handle defendants who were tortured by the US government - How the military court - on a base in #Cuba - operates
1/ @rgoodlaw.bsky.social & I are honored to announce that veteran, multi-award winning reporter @carolrosenbergfeed.bsky.social will be publishing Dispatches from Guantanamo with us at @justsecurity.org –regular updates as the capital trials in the military commissions get underway. #GTMODispatches
Guantánamo Dispatch: The USS Cole Case Edges Toward Trial
Carol Rosenberg reports from Guantánamo Bay on the upcoming pre-trial hearing in the USS Cole bombing case.
justsecurity.org
3/ As I wrote today, we can still choose to turn the page on this era. Crises, including America's rule of law crisis today, provide opportunities for change, but changing for the better is not an inevitable default. We the people have to work to create the new normal we want to inhabit:
2/ The collection includes deeply personal reflections and incisive analysis on how the 9/11 era shapes our current era Must reads: the powerful Afghan voices - Hanifa Girowal (women's rights advocate) - Farid Hamidi (former AG of Afghanistan) - Nasir A. Andisha (Afghan diplomat in Geneva)
9/11 Then and Now: How It Shapes Us 25 Years On
How the September 11 attacks, and the U.S. response that followed, changed the world and the way we approach the moment we are in today.
justsecurity.org
1/ The 22 essays collected here @justsecurity.org are a powerful reminder of the gravity of what was lost on 9/11, the opportunities that followed, and the many ways those opportunities were squandered at home and abroad. www.justsecurity.org/156339/9-11-...
9/11 Then and Now: How It Shapes Us 25 Years On
How the September 11 attacks, and the U.S. response that followed, changed the world and the way we approach the moment we are in today.
justsecurity.org
New statement from the UN CoI on Syria: The Commission calls the closure of Roj Camp “long-overdue” and urges states of nationality to support repatriation and rehabilitation without further delay. www.ohchr.org/en/statement...
Statement by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic accompanying its Oral Update to the 63rd Session of the Human Rights Council
Mr. President, Excellencies,
ohchr.org
The American Journalism Project releases its 2026 Impact Report, which it says tells a clear story: Nonprofit local news has moved beyond proof of concept and has established itself as a pillar of the revitalization of local news. theajp.org/wp-content/u...
theajp.org
Just Security and @rcls-nyu.bsky.social asked experts how 9/11 shaped their path and how it continues to shape us a quarter century later. With new contributions from Farid Hamidi, Geoffrey Corn, Nasir A. Andisha, @jameeljaffer.bsky.social, @bechamilton.bsky.social, and @scott-roehm.bsky.social:
9/11 Then and Now: How it Shapes Us 25 Years On
How the September 11 attacks, and the U.S. response that followed, changed the world and the way we approach the moment we are in today.
justsecurity.org
Ratko Mladic's funeral illustrates that the image of him as a military hero continues to compete with the judicially established record of his responsibility for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. From Ehlimana Memisevic:
Ratko Mladić Is Dead, Yet Legions Mourn This “Butcher of Bosnia” and Celebrate His Crimes
Thousands mourned Ratko Mladić at his funeral in Belgrade despite his responsibility for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
justsecurity.org
The Washington Sun rises today. I hope you’ll join our orbit. The Sun aims to do nothing less than reinvent the newspaper for the digital age — and to prove that there is a market in the capital region for local news and sports coverage. washingtonsun.com/perspectives...
Dana Milbank: The Washington Sun Rises Today. I Hope You’ll Join Our Orbit.
My boss, Tim Grieve, posted a photo on X last week of a shipment of office chairs that had just arrived at the Arlington, Virginia, headquarters of our new publication, The Washington Sun. “It's fun t...
washingtonsun.com
New @apstylebook.com guidance: "Lake Ontario has carried that name for more than 400 years. Refer to it by its original name. If it is relevant to the story, acknowledge and explain the name Trump has chosen."
I wrote about the courts and the "war on terror"--"a bleak landscape of judicial abdication, with the courts almost invariably placing national security policies beyond the reach of the law and human rights victims outside the sphere of judicial protection" www.thenation.com/article/worl...
See No Evil
American courts and the War on Terror.
thenation.com
[1/] On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of #Ukraine, Just Security offers expert analysis spanning law, diplomacy, humanitarian policy, and more, from leading Ukrainian and international authors. www.justsecurity.org/tag/russia-u...
1/ Trump's War Powers Report to Congress on the #Venezuela strikes and seizure of #Maduro is in. I've read/coded every WPR report and used to work on them in the White House. (See this searchable database & graphics warpowers.lawandsecurity.org/%F0%9F%91%87) Here's what stands out about this one🧵:
War Powers Resolution Reporting Project
A living resource on presidential reporting practice and the use of U.S. armed forces abroad.
warpowers.lawandsecurity.org
Tess Bridgeman@tessbridgeman.bsky.social · 10mo agoReminder for Congress: The War Powers Resolution's 60 day clock is ticking today, & the WPR report to Congress is due. Note: - There's no "we're calling this law enforcement" exception to the WPR - Bombing another country and forcibly abducting its president in a military raid is "hostilities"
[1/2] Don't miss our 2025 end-of-year book recs from the JS community. Featuring novels and non-fiction by @davidenrich.bsky.social @tim-weiner.bsky.social @philippesands.bsky.social @realrussbaker.bsky.social @shaunwalker7.bsky.social @milleridriss.bsky.social www.justsecurity.org/126111/just-...
The Just Security 2025 Year-End Book Recommendations
Just Security editors recommend books they read this year, including those that illuminated world issues and brought joy into their 2025.
justsecurity.org
(1/4) Catch up on our recent analysis: • U.S. strikes / Venezuela • Book recommendations • Ethiopia • Trump executive actions • Supreme Court • Economic diplomacy • Civil society • Emerging technologies www.justsecurity.org/125922/diges...
Digest of Recent Articles on Just Security (Dec. 1-5, 2025)
U.S. strikes / Venezuela • Book recommendations • Ethiopia • Trump executive actions • Supreme Court • Economic diplomacy • Civil society • Emerging technologies
justsecurity.org
I believe folks know the important work we're doing at @justsecurity.org, especially in these challenging times. But we made this short video as a reminder! We really need your support this #GivingTuesday. For tax-deductible gifts: justsecurity.org/donate/
"Vladimir Putin Won’t Win on the Battlefield" "Since January, the Russian military’s territorial gains total nearly 1,900 square miles—or 0.8% of Ukraine, writes Mick Ryan." www.wsj.com/opinion/vlad...
Opinion | Vladimir Putin Won’t Win on the Battlefield
Since January, the Russian military’s territorial gains total nearly 1,900 square miles—or 0.8% of Ukraine, writes Mick Ryan.
wsj.com
ICYMI, since this US-Russia proposal for #Ukraine still seems to be under discussion, regardless of the provenance, check out the smart analysis from @ambdanfried.bsky.social 👇
Just Security@justsecurity.org · 12mo agoThe draft US-Russia “peace plan” for #Ukraine is a “hot mess,” writes @ambdanfried.bsky.social. But Ukrainian Pres. Zelenskyy is right to try to work with it rather than reject it outright, Fried says, offering some possible negotiating pointers: www.justsecurity.org/125365/ukrai...
As the US masses forces in the Caribbean and threatens #Venezuela’s #Maduro, what happens if Maduro flees, is overthrown, or otherwise loses power? Peter J. Quaranto and Tyler Jess Thompson outline key questions for scenario planning: www.justsecurity.org/125552/trump...
Trump Presses for Post-Maduro Venezuela
As the U.S. positions for possible military strikes, it should prepare for looming governance and stability challenges in Venezuela.
justsecurity.org
Trump is investing in the #SouthCaucasus and #CentralAsia, building new trade routes to counter #China and #Russia. Will it pay off? Nino Lezhava on the players in a shifting region: www.justsecurity.org/125271/us-co...
U.S. Counters China, Russia in the South Caucasus, Central Asia
How the U.S.-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal and the TRIPP trade route are reshaping Eurasia’s economic and security alliances.
justsecurity.org
Smart take on #Bosnia from @kurtbassuener.bsky.social at @justsecurity.org. Check it out. 👇
Just Security@justsecurity.org · 12mo agoThe U.N. Security Council recently extended the EU’s peacekeeping mission in #Bosnia for another year, even as the U.S. position may be shifting to support Russia-backed hardliners. Kurt Bassuener writes the EU must act fast to stem further backsliding: www.justsecurity.org/123981/un-ex...
