President Obama

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South China Sea

Assessing the South China Sea Arbitral Award after One Year: Why China Won and the U.S. is Losing

Julian Ku Wed, Jul 12, 2017, 12:00 AM

A year ago today, an arbitral tribunal formed pursuant to the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea issued a blockbuster award finding much of China’s conduct in the South China Sea in violation of international law. As I detailed that day on this blog and elsewhere, the Philippines won about as big a legal victory as it could have expected. But as many of us also warned that day, a legal victory is not the same as an actual victory.

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Politics & National Security

We Watched the State of the Union So You Don't Have To

Cody M. Poplin Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 11:57 AM

We watched the State of the Union so you don’t have to.

With an eye towards the national security sections of the speech, we’ve selected the parts we think are most relevant to Lawfare readers, organizing them by subject matter. While you can read the President's full comments on those subjects below, here’s a brief summary:

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War Powers

Drones, Their Critics, and Obama's War Powers Legacy

Charlie Dunlap Fri, Oct 16, 2015, 10:48 AM

Few things have been more emblematic of the military and, indeed, political aspects of the Obama War Powers legacy than drones. As many have noted, the use of this weapons system has vastly increased during the Obama Administration, particularly in areas outside of active combat zones directly involving U.S. forces.

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Targeted Killing: Drones

Obama's Moral Muse

Quinta Jurecic Tue, Oct 6, 2015, 7:34 AM

Nearly seven years into his presidency, we probably shouldn’t be asking who Barack Obama is any more. We should already know him well.

Yet at least as pertains to the drone program, we have yet to figure the man out.

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International Criminal Court (ICC)

Was President Obama’s Visit to Kenya a Snub to the International Criminal Court?

John Bellinger Mon, Jul 27, 2015, 9:39 AM

One aspect of President Obama’s historic visit to Kenya under-reported by the U.S. press and almost entirely ignored by U.S. human rights groups was that the President met with two Kenyan leaders who had been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in connection with violence after the 2007 elections that killed 1000 Kenyans.

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