294.02 sec. 001 - Current Topics in National Security Law (Fall 2025)
Instructor: Tess Bridgeman
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Units: 1
Grading Designation: Credit Only
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
Th 3:35 PM - 5:25 PM
Location: Law 145
From August 21, 2025
To October 02, 2025
Course End: October 02, 2025
Class Number: 33120
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 0
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 30
As of: 04/04 07:13 AM
This course examines the most pressing national security law issues of the day, introduces key domestic and international legal frameworks necessary to engage in law and policy debates, and provides practical perspectives on these topics. The course will analyze the roles of each of the branches of the U.S. federal government in matters of national security, including debates on the separation of powers, examine the intersection of international and domestic law in this sphere, and provide insight into the practice of national security law in the Executive Branch. Two or more class sessions will be reserved to cover new developments and specific topics may be adjusted based on current events. Past topics covered in the course have included: Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the international response and debates over criminal accountability; China-Taiwan tensions and the U.S. defense posture; the War Powers Resolution of 1973, its implementation in practice, and pending proposals for reform; the scope of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force and the ongoing “forever wars” after U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan; the laws of armed conflict (IHL) and detention operations and military commissions at Guantanamo; the powers and limits of Congress and the Judiciary to conduct national security oversight of the President; the use of domestic and multilateral sanctions as a national security tool; nuclear non-proliferation challenges, with a focus on Iran; current debates on surveillance and intelligence collection (including FISA reauthorization) and covert action; key debates in cyber law; withdrawal from international organizations and agreements; among others.
Dr. Tess Bridgeman is a Senior Fellow & Visiting Scholar at NYU Law School’s Reiss Center on Law and Security and Co-Editor in Chief of Just Security. Bridgeman served in the White House as Special Assistant to President Obama, Associate Counsel to the President, and Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council (NSC), where she provided counsel on a broad range of issues relating to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Bridgeman previously served in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser, where she was Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser and, prior to that role, an Attorney Adviser in the Office of Political-Military Affairs, focusing on the law of armed conflict. Bridgeman clerked for Judge Thomas L. Ambro of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. A Rhodes Scholar, Harry S. Truman Scholar, and John Gardner Fellow, Bridgeman has a D.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University, a J.D. from NYU Law School, magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, which she attended as a Root-Tilden-Kern and Institute for International Law and Justice Scholar, and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Attendance at the first class is mandatory for all currently enrolled and waitlisted students; any currently enrolled or waitlisted students who are not present on the first day of class (without prior permission of the instructor) will be dropped. The instructor will continue to take attendance throughout the add/drop period and anyone who moves off the waitlist into the class must continue to attend or have prior permission of the instructor in order not to be dropped.
Exam Notes: (None) Series of papers or assignments throughout the semester
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Course Category: Public Law and Policy
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