Colloquium on Law and Security
Course Instructors
- Professor Stephen Holmes
- Adjunct Professor Rachel Goldbrenner
- Professor David Golove
Course Information
Spring 2027
Thursday, 4:45–6:45 p.m.
Vanderbilt Hall, Room 202
LAW-LW.11698.001 | 2 Credits
This Colloquium offers students an insider’s view of how law and national security actually interact in practice, at a moment when the traditional post–Cold War paradigm is breaking down. American unipolar dominance has receded, transnational terrorism is no longer treated as the singular, defining threat, and new contests over power, technology, and information are forcing officials, courts, and lawyers to rethink what “security” means and how it should be regulated. Even the traditional American commitment in its foreign policy to democratic values and the rule of law, however qualified in the past, appears now to be in stark retreat.
Meeting weekly, the Colloquium brings leading voices directly into the classroom: legal scholars, former officials from across the national security apparatus, and journalists who cover the field. Each session is organized around assigned readings tailored to the work and perspective of that week’s guest, and class time is devoted to critical, seminar style discussion with the speaker. Students are expected to engage seriously with the readings, connect doctrinal and theoretical questions to real world practice, and probe the tensions between liberty and security, secrecy and accountability, raw power and moral imperatives, and law and politics. Substantively, the course surveys a wide range of contemporary issues, including shifting relations with an increasingly assertive China and a belligerent Russia; the conduct and law of modern warfare; increased reliance on emerging forms of coercion that differ from traditional wars and economic sanctions; the rapidly evolving technology and cyber landscape; and the future of America’s alliances, values, and role in the international order. At the same time, the Colloquium turns inward to domestic challenges: strains on American democracy and the rule of law; the organization, culture, and oversight of the national security bureaucracy; white nationalism and systemic racism as national security concerns; and recurring controversies over executive power, judicial review, and the adequacy of congressional and public oversight. In addition to active participation in weekly discussions, students will write a substantial research paper on a national security topic chosen in consultation with the instructors. The paper is an opportunity to develop expertise on a specific issue, to work closely with faculty on framing and executing original research, and to think critically about how law should respond to the new and evolving security environment of the third decade of the twenty first century.