A free and independent press has long been understood as a core element of healthy and secure democracies. Particularly in the realm of national security and foreign policy, news reporting and investigations are an integral source of information that enables the American public to evaluate the decisions of their elected officials. Yet today the press is facing new or newly acute challenges arising from the executive branch, Congress, and even the media industry itself—all unfolding against the backdrop of an already-siloed and mistrustful information landscape.

What is it like to lead a newsroom and report on national security issues today? Which legal issues are top of mind for media and free speech lawyers and scholars? What are the most pressing challenges and opportunities? On May 18, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and Just Security convened a discussion with frontline experts to address these questions. 

Show Note: 

• The Trump Administration's Use of State Power Against Media: Keeping Track of the Big Picture by Rebecca Hamilton 
• Just Security’s Freedom of the Press Archive 

Over the past year, U.S. anti-corruption policy has undergone significant shifts — from changes in FCPA enforcement to sanctions rollbacks and institutional drawdowns — raising questions about America’s global role. At the same time, anti-corruption movements are gaining momentum worldwide. Dani Schulkin speaks with Richard Nephew and Bruce Swartz about what these trends mean for enforcement, international cooperation, and the future of the anti-corruption agenda.

Show Note:  

• Three Lessons from the Intersection of Sanctions and Corruption by Richard Nephew (May 13, 2026)  
• The Anti-Corruption Tracker: Mapping the Erosion of Oversight and Accountability 
• "When the Guardrails Erode" Series 

Co-Hosts Tess Bridgeman and Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane to examine the escalating U.S. campaign of killings of suspected drug traffickers at sea under “Operation Southern Spear” following the January 2026 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The conversation explores the U.S. military operations in Venezuela and the intensifying campaign of lethal strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, unpacks the Trump administration’s legal justifications, and looks at potential avenues for accountability. This installment is part five of the “Murder on the High Seas” series, produced in collaboration with the Reiss Center on Law and Security.

Show Note: 

• Just Security’s Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve   
• Jeremy Chin, Margaret Lin, Aidan Arasasingham, and Marie Miller, Timeline of Vessel Strikes and Related Actions (Nov. 21, 2025, updated regularly)   
• Rebecca Ingber, The Trump Administration’s Theory of Constitutional War Powers: “The President Could Decide (March 2, 2026)  
• Edward Swaine, Can the U.S. Government Be Sued for Wrongful Death in a Caribbean Boat Strike? (Jan. 29, 2026)
• Tess Bridgeman and Brian Finucane, War Powers, Venezuela, Drug Boats, and Congress (Jan. 12, 2026) 
• Tess Bridgeman, Michael Schmitt, and Ryan Goodman, Expert Q&A on U.S. Military Action in Venezuela and Boat Strikes (Jan. 6, 2026)
• Michael Schmitt, Marko Milanovic, The International Law Obligation to Investigate the Boat Strikes (Dec. 15, 2025)
• Mark Nevitt, The Law on Targeting Shipwrecked Drug Traffickers: Expert Backgrounder (Dec. 11, 2025)

Previously on “Murder on the High Seas”

• Tess Bridgeman, Rachel Goldbrenner, Rebecca Ingber, and Brian Finucane, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part IV (Dec. 2, 2025)
• Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane, and Rebecca Ingber, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part III  (Oct. 21, 2025, also available on YouTube)
• Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane, Rachel Goldbrenner, and Rebecca Ingber, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part II — What We Know about U.S. Vessel Strikes One Month In (Oct. 7, 2025)
• Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane, and Rebecca Ingber, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas? What You Need to Know about the U.S. Strike on the Caribbean Vessel (Sept. 9, 2025, also available on YouTube)

Should the FBI be allowed to access the content of Americans’ communications–emails, texts and phone calls–without obtaining a judicial warrant? That’s a key question facing Congress, with a looming deadline of April 30th. The question is wrapped up in the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702, which will sunset at the end of this month.

I had the opportunity to interview Andrew Weissmann, who served as FBI General Counsel in addition to other positions in the Department of Justice. Below are three highlights from our conversation. Our conversation is available as a video on this page as well as YouTube and soon as a podcast.]

A bit of background before the excerpts below: Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect the email, text, and phone conversations of foreign nationals located in foreign countries. As a byproduct, Americans’ communications are caught in the surveillance net as well. Subject to limitations that Congress introduced in 2024, the FBI can dip into that vast database to look for communications of Americans – without a warrant and without probable cause of wrongdoing.

Congress is presented with a three-prong fork in the road: reauthorize the tool as is, reform it with new warrant requirements, or let it sunset entirely. (For competing views on this topic at Just Security, see analysis by George Croner and by Elizabeth Goitein and Hannah James.)

Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary election brought a major political shift. After 16 years in power, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party lost to opposition leader Peter Magyar, whose coalition now holds a strong parliamentary majority. The result marks a new chapter in Hungary’s politics after years of debate about democratic accountability, media independence, and relations within the European Union.

In this episode, Szuzanna Vegh joins Viola Gienger to explore how the opposition achieved its win, what priorities Magyar may set for his government, and how Hungary’s domestic and foreign policies could evolve.

Show Note:

• Zsuzsanna Vegh’s Just Security article before the election, “Hungary’s Election Could End Orbán’s Rule — But Will It End His Power?” April 7, 2026.
• Just Security’s archive of articles related to Hungary.
• Just Security’s archives on Europe, democracy, and authoritarianism.

The North African country of Sudan marks a grim anniversary this week: the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been fighting a civil war for three years, creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. About 14 million people have been forced to flee the fighting, often multiple times, and 4.4 million have fled to other countries, mostly to Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt, but also some to Europe. Today, one in four Sudanese is displaced. The U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization says 21 million Sudanese are facing acute food insecurity, including 6.3 million in the most dire state of food emergency.

Quscondy Abdulshafi joins host Viola Gienger to discuss how Sudan got to this point, how the international community has responded, and where to go next. 

Show Notes:

• Quscondy Abdulshafi's April 2025 article for Just Security, "Two Years of War in Sudan: From Revolution to Ruin and the Fight to Rise Again."
• Rachel George’s recent article for Just Security, “Amid Shaky Cea sefire, War in Iran Is Starving Sudan.”
• Just Security Podcast episode “Assessing the Origins, Dynamics, and Future of Conflict in Sudan” with Executive Editor Matiangai Sirleaf, and three experts, Laura Nyantung Beny, Nisrin Elamin, Hamid Khalafallah, on Oct. 11, 2024.  
• Just Security’s Sudan Archive

Trump's threats to forcibly take control of Greenland brought to the headlines the alarming notion of the United States seeking new territories, from a European ally. But the United States already faces pressing issues of territorial control and governance. In this podcast, we share the perspectives of two leaders who work on democracy, equity, and self-determination issues in current U.S. territories. Why does the United States hold territories? How are they governed? And what does the contrast between Denmark’s relationship with Greenland and Washington’s treatment of its territories tell us about how these relationships might change? 

In this episode of the Just Security Podcast, Just Security co-editor-in-chief Tess Bridgeman discusses these questions and more with Neil Weare and Adi Martínez-Román. Neil and Adi are both lawyers, and are Co-Directors of Right to Democracy, an organization that works to advance democracy, equity, and self-determination in U.S. territories.  

Show Note:  

• Neil Weare and Adi Martinez-Roman, How Greenland's Relationship with Denmark Exposes the Shortcomings of Being a “U.S. Territory” (Feb. 3, 2026)
• Collection: U.S., Greenland, and NATO 
• Watch this episode on YouTube.

Prior to the U.S. attacks that dislodged president Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, American forces have for weeks been blockading U.S.-sanctioned ships carrying Venezuelan oil. In mid-December, the United States began boarding, and seizing, tankers in the so‑called “shadow fleet” that move sanctioned oil across the globe, starting with stateless vessels. In a dramatic turn, this week the U.S. Coast Guard, with U.S. and allied military support, intercepted and boarded two Russian-flagged oil tankers in international waters, prompting protests from Moscow.

Can the U.S. lawfully board and seize Russian‑flagged merchant ships? What does international maritime law, and the law of naval warfare, have to say about actions like these? To unpack the legal and geopolitical stakes, host Tess Bridgeman speaks with Rob McLaughlin, professor at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security and the ANU College of Law, who previously served as both a Seaman officer and Legal officer in the Royal Australian Navy, including in senior roles such as Fleet Legal Officer, Strategic Legal Adviser, Director of Operations and International Law, and Director of the Naval Legal Service. 

Show Note: 

• Elizabeth Hutton, Maritime Law Enforcement on the High Seas: Authority, Jurisdiction, and the Seizure of The Skipper An Expert Backgrounder (Dec. 22, 2025)
• Rob McLaughlin and Connor McLaughlin, Was the Visit and Seizure of the Skipper off the Coast of Venezuela Lawful? (Dec. 17, 2025)
• See also Question 31 in Tess Bridgeman, Michael Schmitt, and Ryan Goodman, Expert Q&A on the U.S. Boat Strikes (Dec. 13, 2025)
• Michael Schmitt and Rob McLaughlin, Blockading Venezuela: The International Law Consequences (Dec. 18, 2025)
• Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman, International Law and the U.S. Military and Law Enforcement Operations in Venezuela (Jan. 4, 2026)
• Just Security’s Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve  

The Combating Global Corruption Act marks a new chapter in how the U.S. approaches corruption abroad. For the first time, the State Department must publicly rank foreign governments based on their anti-corruption efforts–evaluations that may carry real consequences for foreign aid, diplomacy, and sanctions. Yet the rollout comes at a moment of contradiction. As the United States positions itself to evaluate corruption abroad, it is facing an erosion of accountability mechanisms at home.

In this episode, Dani Schulkin is joined by former State Department officials Sky Miller and Adam Keith about the promises and pitfalls of the act, and what this tension reveals about America’s ability to lead and enforce anti-corruption efforts worldwide. 

Show Note: 

• “Global Corruption, Local Hypocrisy: The Promises and Pitfalls of the U.S. Combating Global Corruption Act” by Schuyler Miller and Adam Keith (December 9, 2025)
•  When the Guardrails Erode Series by Dani Schulkin, Amy Markopolous, and Maya Nir

The Trump administration has continued its campaign of lethal strikes against suspected drug traffickers at sea. To date, 83 people have reportedly been killed in 21 strikes. The strikes have met increasing scrutiny both inside the United States and abroad, with some close U.S. allies reportedly suspending intelligence sharing over concerns of the illegality of the campaign, and recently surfaced reporting of the deliberate killing of two strike survivors receiving rare bipartisan attention from Congress. 

On the fourth installment of the Murder on the High Seas series, cross-posted with NYU Law School’s Reiss Center on Law and Security, co-hosts Tess Bridgeman and Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane to discuss the latest developments. 

Show Note: 

• Murder on the High Seas Part III  (Oct. 21, 2025, also available on YouTube) 
• Murder on the High Seas Part II — What We Know about U.S. Vessel Strikes One Month In (Oct. 7, 2025, also available on YouTube)
• Murder on the High Seas? What You Need to Know about the U.S. Strike on the Caribbean Vessel (Sep. 9, 2025, also available on YouTube)
• Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors: An Expert Backgrounder by Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman, and Tess Bridgeman (Dec. 1, 2025) 
• Timeline of Vessel Strikes and Related Actions by Jeremy Chin, Margaret Lin, and Aidan Arasasingham (Nov. 21, 2025, updated regularly)  
• Just Security’s Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers 
• The NYU Law Reiss Center on Law and Security’s War Powers Resolution Reporting Project