The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association.

During this episode, Captain Todd Huntley USN (ret.) shares his perspective on legal considerations related to information operations. Todd draws upon decades of operational law experience as a judge advocate for USSOCCOM and a senior legal advisor for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Threat Reduction and Arms Control.

Resources:

• Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
  • #63 Mike Vickers on IO and the Cyclops
  • #53 Clint Watts on Domestic Extremism
  • #84 Suzanne Spaulding on Disinformation, the Foreign Malign Influence Center, and Civics
  • #41 Toomas Ilves on the Estonian Perspective https://information-professionals.org/episode/cognitive-crucible-episode-41
• Controlling the Use of Force in Cyberspace: the Application of the Law of Armed Conflict During a Time of Fundamental Change in the Nature of Warfare by Todd Huntley
• Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare by Thomas Rid
• Nothing Is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev

Link to full show notes and resources

https://information-professionals.org/episode/cognitive-crucible-episode-93

Guest Bio: Todd Huntley is the Director of the National Security Law Program and a Lecturer in Law at Georgetown University Law Center. In addition to teaching, Todd develops curriculum as well as other educational and professional development programs for students focusing on National Security Law.

Todd is a retired Navy Captain and served as an active duty Judge Advocate for more than 23 years. Prior to joining Georgetown he was a Professor of National Security Law at The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Charlottesville. He previously served as the Directory of the Navy's National Security Law Division. While at the Pentagon he served as a Special Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Threat Reduction and Arms Control as well as a member of the Senior Review Group for a Joint Staff study on hybrid threats.

Todd has extensive operational law experience supporting the Special Operations community. He served as the Chief, Information Operations Law at US Special Operations Command and as the legal advisor to the Joint Military Information Support Command, as well as the SJA, Special Operations Command Central and Combined Forces Special Operations Command where he deployed to Qatar, Iraq, Yemen, and other locations in the Middle East. He also served as the legal advisor for US Special Operations Command, National Capital Region. Todd deployed to Afghanistan twice with a Joint Special Operations Task Force in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and has supported a Joint Special Operations Task Force conducting world-wide counter-terrorism missions. CAPT Huntley has a B.A. in International Affairs and a J.D. from the University of Cincinnati, as well as an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.

For more information, please contact us at [email protected].

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.