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Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. In 2019-2021, he served as the Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, executive secretary of the department's Commission on Unalienable Rights, and senior adviser to the...
The Pacific Century Reads A Long Telegram
Parsing the State Department Policy Planning Staff’s New China Report with Peter Berkowitz.
PSU Debate Covers Human Rights and Rules of War
Human Rights attorney Scott Horton debated Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz on human rights and the rules of warfare in a debate organized by the Pomona Student Union on Mar. 4 at 7 p.m. in Edmunds Ballroom. . . .
The Briefing: The Complexities Of Cybersecurity
In June 2013, when he began leaking thousands of classified documents — from among hundreds of thousands that he had stolen — about America's global surveillance programs, Edward Snowden, a former employee of the National Security Agency, confirmed the arrival of the cyber era...
PATRIOT GAMES: The Patriot Act in Review
In October 2001, in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, Congress passed, and President Bush signed, the USA Patriot Act. The law is intended to prevent future terrorist acts by enhancing various law enforcement tools. Critics argue that the Patriot Act is a dangerous infringement on American civil liberties. Now, more than two years after the passage of the Patriot Act, do we have any evidence that the critics are right? For that matter, do we even know whether the Patriot Act is working to deter terrorism? Should the Patriot Act be allowed to expire, or should its provisions become a permanent part of the war on terrorism?
GIVE ME CIVIL LIBERTIES OR GIVE ME...SAFETY? Should the Patriot Act Be Renewed?
In late 2001, in response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Bush administration proposed the USA Patriot Act, which gave law enforcement agencies expanded surveillance and intelligence-gathering powers. Congress overwhelmingly approved the Patriot Act on the condition that most provisions of the act would expire in 2005. President Bush now wants all provisions of the act extended. Should they be? Or are the provisions dangerous and unnecessary infringements on our civil liberties? Peter Robinson speaks with Jenny Martinez and John Yoo.
TAKING LIBERTIES: Civil Liberties and National Security
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Congress passed and President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act—legislation intended to thwart the threat of domestic terrorism. Critics were quick to denounce USA Patriot as a dangerous expansion of government power at the expense of our civil liberties. Are the critics right? Or can we win the war on terrorism without sacrificing our civil liberties here at home? And what has the American experience in earlier crises, such as the Civil War and the two world wars, taught us about balancing national security and personal freedom?
DOWN BY LAW: Military Detainees in the War on Terror
Do enemy combatants in the war on terror have any legal rights? The United States now holds more than 650 persons captured during the war on terrorism at our naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba. The government is holding them indefinitely, without charging them and without offering them access to American courts or legal counsel. Is this legal? Do federal courts have jurisdiction in this matter, or do these detainees exist completely outside of the American legal system?
LAW AND ORDER: Civil Liberties and the War on Terrorism
Does the war on terrorism threaten our civil liberties? Benjamin Franklin famously admonished, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Are we today being asked to give up essential liberties for temporary safety? If so, is it worth it? Or are the fears that the government's war on terrorism will trample our freedoms overblown?
Second Term Challenges
As Barack Obama begins his second term as president of the United States, the nation faces a range of formidable challenges at the intersection of which are national security and law.
Power Misdirected
Did the Boumediene decision represent a victory for separation of powers? Hardly, despite what the Supreme Court majority claimed. Instead, it was judicial overreach. By Peter Berkowitz.
A Legal Atrocity
The author of the notorious Goldstone Report admits he got it wrong. Too late. By Peter Berkowitz.
The Lawyering of War
Peter Berkowitz on The War on Terror and the Laws of War: A Military Perspective by Michael Lewis, Eric Jensen, Geoffrey Corn, Victor Hansen, Richard Jackson, and James Schoettler.
Hoover Institution Spring 2013 Retreat
The Hoover Institution hosted its annual Spring Retreat beginning on Sunday, April 21, 2013, with before-dinner remarks by Kevin Warsh, a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His speech, titled “The Economy over the Horizon: Unknown Knowns,” emphasized the importance of the state of the economy, which currently has a 2 percent growth rate, and understanding the concept of “unknown knowns,” a reference to former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld.
No More “Party of No”
National Security and Torture
Richard Epstein, the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, discusses the findings of a task force he participated in dedicated to determining whether the United States committed acts of torture in the aftermath of 9/11.
Epstein discusses civil liberties after Boston on the John Batchelor Show
Richard Epstein, the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, notes that, in the aftermath of the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon, a major debate has broken out over surveillance and targeted searches.
Intelligence Design
Terrorists are getting very good at covering their tracks. Their pursuers must become even better at uncovering them. By Katya Drozdova.
Portrait of a Travesty
How “international law” invites a Spanish judge to pursue U.S. officials. By David Davenport.
Civil Liberties After Boston
Richard Epstein, the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, discusses the rule of law and how it applies to alleged Boston bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev.
Crisis and Command with John Yoo: Chapter 4 of 5
John Yoo comments on the case against John Yoo. . . .