90-712, National Security and International Terrorism Law and Policy
12 units
Prerequisites: None
Skills: Graduate, senior or junior student status
Delivery Format:
Description: The September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States focused the
minds of Americans for the first time since Pearl Harbor on
national security, and in particular the country's vulnerability to
a new threat of sudden, unprovoked, devastating assaults against
unprotected civilians in its own territory. Although the actions
taken by the state and local "first responders" - police,
firefighters, port authority personnel and others - to respond to
this threat were evident from the start in the media coverage, less
well-known to the general public were the array of measures dealing
with national security that were put in place by the several
branches of the federal government, some with exceptional rapidity
very soon after the attacks. The latter included the adoption of
new laws, regulations, policies and programs, an extraordinary
restructuring of government agencies' responsibilities not seen
since the end of World War II, the creation of a new cabinet-level
department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the military
actions mounted against Al Queda, the terrorist group reasonably
believed to be responsible for the September 11 attacks, and their
state supporters, the Taliban, in Afghanistan. The international community also responded decisively. The
United Nations Secretary-General, Security Council, and General
Assembly all immediately condemned the terrorist attacks, NATO
invoked Article 5 of its Charter for the first time ever, (This
provision states that an attack on a member state is considered to
be an attack on all, thus authorizing other NATO member states to
join together in collective self-defense against the attackers).
And expressions of sympathy and support poured in from foreign
governments and peoples around the world. This course will examine the key domestic and international
legal and policy issues concerning national security, international
terrorism, and the maintenance of national and international peace
and security in the modern world, with a particular focus on the
post-9/11 environment. The course will cover the following
subjects, organized as follows: 1. Introduction and overview. Defining terrorism and terrorist
actors. Historical review of terrorism and terrorist acts worldwide
over the ages. Terrorist weapons. Weapons of mass destruction
(WMD). CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological ("dirty bombs") and
Nuclear) weapons. Cyber-Security. International crimes as a
national security threat. Terrorist attacks against the United
States abroad and at home. The 9/11 attacks. 3. Military Responses: the search for Osama bin Laden and Al
Queda and the military campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The war in Iraq in 2003, the UN Security Council debate, and
current problems facing the US in Iraq. Implications for peace and
stability in the Middle East and elsewhere. 4. International Law, the United Nations Charter, and the UN
system for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Historical overview, from the concept of "Just War" and natural law
to the collective security system under the UN Charter. The
prohibition of the aggressive use of force. The right of individual
and collective self-defense. Anticipatory, Preventive and
Preemptive Self-Defense. UN peacekeeping. Humanitarian
intervention. International adjudication. UN resolutions, and
treaties and agreements relating to terrorism. The UN Security
Council Committee on Terrorism. 5. Investigating terrorism and other national security threats.
Fourth Amendmt prohibition against unreasonable searches and
seizures. Investigations abroad. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act. USA Patriot Act. Executive authority for national security
investigations. Profiling subjects for investigation. Preventive
detention. Current cases: Padilla, Hamdi, Lindh, Moussaoui.
Immigration and border controls. 6. Terrorism Crisis Management and Consequence Management.
Planning a response to a terrorist attack. Who's in Charge?
Assigning Lead Agency Responsibility. National Security Strategy
for the United States. National Strategy for Homeland Security.
Office of Homeland Security. Department of Homeland Security.
Protecting Critical Infrastructure. Dealing with Medical
Emergencies. Chemical, biological and radiological weapons attacks.
Role of the Military. Emergency powers and civil liberties. 7. Trying International Terrorists. 1) Criminalizing Terrorism
and support of terrorism. U.S. Laws: Extraterritorial reach of U.S.
laws. International Laws. War crimes, Nuremberg Rules. Crimes
against Humanity. 2) Apprehending terrorists. Extradition and other
rendition. Detention as "enemy combatants". Guantanamo Bay
detentions. 3) Prosecuting terrorists. a) Trial in U.S. courts.
Using secret evidence against terrorists. The Classified
Information Procedures Act. 6th Amendment right to confront
witnesses. b) Trial by Military Commission. Military Order of
November 13, 2001, c) Trial in Foreign or International Courts. The
Lockerbie Trial. International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia
and for Rwanda. The International Criminal Court. 8. Punishing Terrorists and their supporters. The course provides students with an opportunity to examine
these issues in detail and subject them to rigorous legal and
policy analysis. It will be structured as a seminar, with students
either individually or in small groups making a class presentation
accompanied by a written paper outlining and briefly analyzing
selected topics and leading the class discussion in that class
period, under the overall direction and guidance of the instructor.
These class presentations and class participation will count for
40% of the grade, and there will be a final paper on any topic
within the syllabus chosen by the student in consultation with the
instructor (60% of the grade).
2. Overview of U.S. counterterrorism and homeland security
policies and strategies. The National Security Strategy of the
United States, the USA Patriot Act, the US National Strategy for
Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security
Reorganization Plan.
a) Repelling Attacks and Anticipatory Self-defense. Antiterrorism
and
Effective Death Penalty Act. b) Bombing "Sanctuaries". U.S. Raid
on
Libya. Attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan. c) Assassination of
Terrorists
and anticipatory self-defense.
Last modified on May 31, 2006
