What We're Reading

Hello Lawfare Patreon Subscribers,

Here is what we’re reading this week:

Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes has been reading a slew of indictments, including the indictment of Thomas Barrack, an advisor to former President Trump, and the unsealed indictment against four Chinese nationals for a global computer intrusion campaign.

Executive Editor Scott R. Anderson is reading two pieces in the Washington Post on some of the unique challenges facing the Middle East and Afghanistan this summer. The first is expert coverage on the rash of widespread power outages dominating a growing swathe of the region that some are calling the "Arc of Dark," as a result of summertime heat, energy shortages, corruption and mismanagement. The second is an op-ed by former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald Neumann arguing for more robust support for Afghan security forces in their fight against the Taliban, even as they withdraw. Scott has also been listening to the BBC's excellent podcast, The Lazarus Heist, which provides a phenomenal tour of North Korea's involvement at the forefront of cybercrime and espionage over the past decade.

Chief Operating Officer David Priess is reading “Democratizing Our Data: A Manifesto,” in which Julia Lane of the Coleridge Initiative charts a much-needed path toward a more automated, transparent and accountable public data system. He can also recommend the thoroughly enjoyable “Andrew Jackson, Southerner,” by Mark Cheathem—who convincingly debunks the myth of Jackson as a rugged frontiersman and lays out a sharper perspective: Jackson was primarily a product of his persistent efforts to lock in an elite southern gentleman identity.

Senior Editor Quinta Jurecic recommends Tahir Hamut Izgil's account in the Atlantic of the Chinese government's surveillance and mass internment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Izgil, a Uyghur poet, describes how his friends were swallowed up "one by one" by steadily encroaching state repression. He and his family escaped their homeland and are now seeking asylum in the United States—but, he writes, they will "never be free from the guilt of our survival."

Managing Editor Jacob Schulz has been listening to the Colin & Samir Show podcast, which covers how internet creators monetize their audiences. It's a fascinating topic—and one with surprising relevance to Lawfare's issue area.

Associate Editor Bryce Klehm read The Atlantic’s “This Will End With President Tucker Carlson” by Helen Lewis, which provides an interesting analysis of American and British journalists-turned-politicians. He also read a New Yorker interview with Morgan Neville, the filmmaker behind “Roadrunner,” a new documentary about the life of Anthony Bourdain.

Lawfare’s Quote of the Week:

From “Angry Political Man” by Bob Bauer: “Barr failed not because he did not honor the code of the prosecutor, as Honig argues, but because he chose through his actions and public commentary to dishonor the norms that an attorney general should be concerned above all to preserve. It was in this sense that he was too political.”

From the Lawfare Vault:

February 6, 2019: “Can Congress Constitutionally Restrict the President’s Troop Withdrawals?” by Ashley Deeks

April 10, 2017: “The United States Will Need a ‘Diplomatic Surge’ in Iraq” by Paul Salem and Randa Slim

Thank you!