Today democracies face violent threats that were unimagined when the foundations of our domestic and international security laws were established.  Phenomena from asymmetric conflicts with terrorists to proliferating unmanned weapons systems not only create new tensions between self-defense and liberty but pose more fundamental questions: Are current legal concepts still capable of providing adequate strategic and moral guidance?  If not, what kind of legal and ethical regime can meet this challenge?  These larger questions are the subject of the July 31 – August 10 Tikvah-Hertog Summer Institute on Law and National Security. View the program flier here. Contact tikvahlaw@tikvahfund.org with questions.

Columbia University has exercised a deep influence on American law. Alexander Hamilton, author of the Federalist Papers, and John Jay, first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, were Columbia students. Columbia Law School is one of the country’s pre-eminent law schools, and the Roger Hertog Program on Law and National Security places the Law School in the front ranks of institutions focusing on this critical area of study. Columbia’s location in New York City provides unparalleled opportunities for education, culture, and entertainment.

The deans of the program are prominent legal scholars.  Samuel J. Rascoff of New York University School of Law, an expert in national security, intelligence, and counterterrorism law, created and led a terrorist threat assessment unit in the New York City Police Department.  Matthew Waxman of Columbia Law School, an expert in national security and international law, specializing in legal issues in counterterrorism and the use of military force, has served in senior positions in the U.S. Departments of State and Defense and the National Security Council.  The deans will enlist additional teachers and speakers who are leading experts and practitioners in the national security field.