National Security Law

This lecture course will explore the distribution of national security powers amongst the three coordinate branches of government and engage students in understanding the laws and policies that govern the legality of war, military operations in wartime, intelligence collection, protection of national security information, foreign intelligence surveillance, covert action, special military operations, offensive counterterrorism operations, the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of terrorism suspects, including military commissions, the domestic use of the military, homeland security, cybersecurity, and other current issues in the national security area. The class will also include discussion of materials declassified in recent months relating to foreign intelligence collection and offensive counterterrorism operations, as well as materials previously declassified, and will examine the legal analysis supporting these specific efforts and the policy questions raised by them.