In this episode I speak with Brian Finucane, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group, and former lawyer in the Office of the Legal Advisor at the U.S. Department of State, where he advised on law and policy issues relating to war powers, the use of force, counterterrorism and the laws of war. We discuss the legality of the U.S. military strikes against alleged drug smugglers in the Southern Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, exploring whether either self-defense under jus ad bellum, or international humanitarian law applicable to armed conflict, can be said to apply to these strikes; and, if not, whether there is any possible justification or defense for these killings under either international human rights law or domestic U.S. criminal law. We also discuss lawfulness of any future U.S. military strikes against alleged drug cartels within the territory of Venezuela, and the separate question of the lawfulness of any larger military intervention in Venezuela for purposes of regime change. We try to put the strikes and threat of wider military action in the region into the broader context of the ongoing assault against the international rule of law – this activity is important precisely because it is so brazenly violating the most fundamental international law rules.
Materials:
– Brian Finucane, “Legal Issues Raised by a Lethal U.S. Military Attack in the Caribbean,” Just Security, Sept. 3, 2025.
– Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane Rachel Goldbrenner and Rebecca Ingber, The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part II, Oct. 7, 2025.
– Michael Schmitt, “Striking Drug Cartels Under the Jus ad Bellum and Law of Armed Conflict,” Just Security, Sept. 10, 2025.
Reading Recommendations:
– The Just Security, “Collection: on U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers.”
– The International Crisis Group, “Beware the Slide Toward Regime Change in Venezuela,” Oct. 23, 2025.
– Jack Goldsmith, “The Venezuela Boat Strikes and the Justice Department’s Golden Shield,” Executive Functions (Substack), Oct. 27, 2025.