LAW 7827 - Foreign Relations Law

This course examines the constitutional, statutory, and common law doctrines regulating the conduct of U.S. foreign relations. The course emphasizes the constitutional allocation of foreign policy authority among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches and between the states and the federal government. Topics include the scope of the treaty power, the validity of executive agreements, preemption of state foreign relations activities, the power to declare and conduct war, the status of international law within the U.S. legal system, and foreign affairs litigation in U.S. courts. The course will make connections to current issues, including U.S. anti-terrorism policy, U.S. military intervention abroad, U.S. treatment of the decisions of international courts, and human rights lawsuits in U.S. courts under the Alien Tort Statute.