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MSFS-516 National Security Law
This course examines international law and U.S. domestic law relevant to the handling of national security matters by US policymakers. On the international level, the course focuses on international laws that govern the use of military force and conflict management. On the domestic level, we will study the allocation of power under the U.S. Constitution between the three branches of the federal government: Congress, the Executive and the Courts. Particular attention is given to war powers and intelligence activities. The class will also assess the role of the courts as a check on the two political branches of the federal government in these areas, particularly as it relates to ongoing efforts to fight terrorism and other non-state actors. With respect to domestic statutory authority, the War Powers Resolution, the National Security Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and the Military Commissions Act are some of the specific statutes that will be covered. Specific executive orders such as E.O. 12333 and the military order to create military commissions will also be covered under domestic authorities. As for international legal instruments, the class will review the lawfulness of the use of military force in several illustrative cases and assess key problems in international laws of war presented by the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and by operations against transnational and subnational terrorist networks. We will consider such specific topics as war crimes, the question of unlawful combatants, the treatment of prisoners of war, and the protection of civilian persons in time of war. Special attention will also be given to the U.N. Charter and other international treaties such as the Geneva Conventions, The Hague Conventions and customary international law. Finally, the class will examine the various challenges for national security presented by new weapons technologies and those in the international community that proliferate those weapons technologies. The course will look at several key disarmament and arms control issues, focusing on efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
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