Publications
CSIS Publications:
Critical Questions:
The London Ministerial on Yemen
In light of early news coverage of the London Ministerial, Sarah Mendelson looks at what should come next regarding Yemen and the Yemeni detainees held at Guantánamo. January 27, 2010.
Recommendations: The London Ministerial on Yemen
In anticipation of the London Ministerial on Yemen (Jan. 27, 2010) Sarah Mendelson and Ken Gude of the Center for American Progress convened experts from government and nongovernmental organizations, drawn from a range of disciplines, to puzzle through the question: Is there a way for the international community to help Yemen address its development and radicalization challenges and for Yemen and other countries to help create conditions on the ground so that the Obama administration can safely resume the transfer of Yemeni detainees from Guantánamo? These are their recommendations. January 25, 2010.
Closing Guantánamo: From Bumper Sticker to Blueprint
Sarah Mendelson and the CSIS Working Group on Guantánamo and Detention Policy present a new proposal for closing the detention facility through a policy that includes the review, release/transfer, and trying of the remaining detainees. Implementation of this new policy would be charged to a blue-ribbon panel of eminent Americans tasked to review the files on all remaining Guantánamo detainees. September 16, 2008.
A draft version of this report was released July 15, 2008.
Opt Back In To the International System Part I: Counterterrorism & Part II: International Law and Treaties
Sarah Mendelson wrote these working papers for CSIS’s Smart Power Series. In them she looks at future counterterrorism and detention policy options in the wake of the Guantánamo detention facility and its negative impact on U.S. world standing. October 2007.
Related Publications:
Past the Deadline on Guantánamo
Sarah Mendelson explains the London Ministerial on Yemen (Jan. 27, 2010) as an opportunity to ask: Is there a way for the international community to help Yemen address its development and radicalization challenges and for Yemen and other countries to help create conditions on the ground so that the Obama administration can safely resume the transfer of Yemeni detainees from Guantánamo? She also presents recommendations to the London Ministerial in this piece in Foreign Policy. January 25, 2010.
Grading Obama
Sarah Mendelson reflects on what the Obama administration has and has not achieved in terms of human rights, one year after Obama's election in this piece in Foreign Policy. November 3, 2009.
The Guantanamo Countdown
Sarah Mendelson addresses what has gone wrong, what has gone right, and what remains to be done in closing the Guantánamo Bay detention facility in the next four months in this commentary in Foreign Policy. October 1, 2009.
A Step Closer to Justice
Sarah Mendelson discusses the need for accountability following Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement of a inquiry into CIA interrogations in this piece in the New York Time’s blog Room for Debate. August 24, 2009.
Beyond Guantánamo
Sarah Mendelson reviews the World Report 2009 by Human Rights Watch and Assessing Damage, Urging Action, a report by the Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counterterrorism and Human Rights initiated by the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists, in this article in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. Summer 2009.
Guantanamo Drift
Sarah Mendelson discusses the complications caused by the Obama administration’s decision to “reform the military commissions” as part of its effort to close Guantánamo in her article on foreignpolicy.com. May 20, 2009.
Dusk or Dawn for the Human Rights Movement?
Sarah Mendelson reflects on the current state of the human rights movement and its challenges going forward in this piece in The Washington Quarterly. April 2009.
After Guantánamo: Review, Release, Prosecute and Build Resilience
Sarah Mendelson argues for the use of federal courts for trying Guantánamo detainees in this piece for the washingtonpost.com's Post Global. February 21, 2009.
How to Close Guantánamo
Sarah Mendelson and former FBI special agent Jack Cloonan argue for an end to Guantánamo and detention without charge in their Washington Post op-ed. November 30, 2008.
Russia Today: In Transition or Intransigent?
Sarah Mendelson’s testimony before the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe addresses the decline of U.S. soft power and the ability of other countries to set the agenda on human rights. May 24, 2007.
Young Russia's Enemy No. 1: Anti-Americanism Grows
Based on their survey data of young Russians, Sarah Mendelson and Ted Gerber (University of Wisconsin-Madison) argue in this op-ed that U.S. detention policies are tainting America’s image in the eyes of Russians, only furthering the dark portrait already painted by the Putin administration. Washington Post, August 3, 2007.
