Murder on the High Seas Part VI
Shownotes
Co-Hosts Tess Bridgeman and Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane to discuss how the Trump administration’s campaign of lethal strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific has escalated and evolved in the year since the strikes began. The conversation examines the administration’s legal justifications for the strikes, the potential for escalation to targets on land, and what the creation of Joint Task Force - Western Hemisphere could mean for the campaign’s future.
This installment is part six of the “Murder on the High Seas” series, produced in collaboration with the Reiss Center on Law and Security.
Show Notes:
- Just Security’s Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve
- Jeremy Chin, Margaret Lin, and Aidan Arasasingham, Timeline of Boat Strikes and Related Actions (continually updated)
- Tess Bridgeman, Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman, and Brian Finucane, Key Questions on U.S. Killing Tren de Aragua Leader Inside Venezuela (June 15, 2026)
- Brian Finucane, “Did the United States just Bomb Ecuador?” (Mar. 13, 2026)
- Rebecca Ingber, The Trump Administration’s Theory of Constitutional War Powers: “The President Could Decide” (Mar. 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)
- Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman, Operation Southern Spear: Why the Crews, Drugs, and Boats are Not Targetable (Dec. 7, 2025)
- Michael Schmitt, Ryan Goodman and Tess Bridgeman, Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors: An Expert Backgrounder (Dec. 1, 2025)
- Daniel Maurer, Hypothetical Legal Review of Narcotrafficking Strikes (Nov. 18, 2025)
- Michael Schmitt, Marko Milanovic, and Ryan Goodman, The International Law Obligation of States to Stop Intelligence Support for U.S. Boat Strikes (Nov. 17, 2025)
- Brian Finucane, Dissecting the Trump Administration’s Effort to Circumvent the War Powers Resolution for Boat Strikes (Nov. 3, 2025)
- Rebecca Ingber and Jessica Thibodeau, Expert Backgrounder on War Powers Resolution 60-Day Clock for Boat Strikes Expiring Monday (Oct. 31, 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 V (May 7, 2026)
- 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)