Professor Robert N. Strassfeld named Director of the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy
Case Western Reserve University School of Law Institute for Global Security Law and Policy
An affiliate of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center, the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy provides innovative programs, research, teaching, and service on issues related to security, counter-terrorism, and civil liberties. Established in 2005, the Institute hosts symposia and a distinguished speakers series, offers a series of specialized courses and labs, and undertakes research projects for the U.S. Congress, Department of Defense, and Coast Guard, as well as international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Below is a description of the Institute’s major events for the 2007-2008 academic year, and the courses and faculty associated with the Institute’s work.

---

Major Events and Programs 2007-2008
Sponsored by the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy

Experts Meeting On Treatment of Terrorist Detainees
Together with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy will hold an experts’ meeting at Case Western Reserve University School of Law on September 14-15, 2007 to examine the issue of the treatment of terrorist detainees. This two-day meeting will bring together experts from academia, government, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as practitioners for a substantive exchange of views on the outstanding legal and practical issues associated with internment and administrative detention. The resulting report and articles will be published in the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law.

World Conference On Combating Terrorist Financing
The Institute for Global Security Law and Policy will host a major international symposium April 9-12, 2008: "World Conference on Combating Terrorist Financing," as a follow-up to the 2005 symposium: "Torture and the War on Terror," the 2006 symposium: "The Fifth Plague," a unique bioterrorism simulation, and the 2007 symposium: "Sacred Violence: Religion and Terrorism." Chaired by Case Western Reserve University School of Law Professor Richard Gordon, the 2008 conference is a Colloquium of the 3,000 member International Association of Penal Law, which selected Cleveland as the site of its global conference over dozens of other cities from around the world. Speakers include Jeffrey Breinholt, former Deputy Chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Counter-Terrorism Section; Rick McDonnell, Head of Secretariat, Financial Action Task Force, U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime; and Jean-Francois Thony, Assistant General Counsel, Anti-Money Laundering & Counter Financing of Terrorism, International Monetary Fund. Articles generated from the conference will be published in the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law.

Terrorism Prosecution Cooperation Project
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded the Institute a $246,807 grant to promote cooperation between U.S. and foreign prosecutors in terrorism cases. The Institute held a "Transnational Counterterrorism Cooperation Summit" at the School of Law in July 2007, with participating prosecutors from several European countries and the U.S. Department of Justice. As part of the project, the Institute will provide a detailed report and other materials generated from the Summit to the U.S. Department of Justice in December 2007.

Counter-Terrorism and National Security-Related Courses Offered 2007-2008

• Gregory Noone, former head of the International Law Branch of the Navy Judge Advocate General’s International and Operational Law Division at the Pentagon, will teach three courses at the School of Law this year: “International Humanitarian Law” and the “Terrorism Prosecution Lab I & II,” in which students prepare research memoranda for the Office of the Prosecutor of the U.S. Military Commissions.
• A new course on “National Security Law” will be taught by Robert Alt of the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University.
• The School of Law will once again offer “Counterterrorism Law and Policy,” taught by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman.
• The School of Law will also continue to offer the “Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard Lab,” co-taught by Daniel Ujczo (Border Network Affairs and Advocacy Officer at the Consulate General of Canada) and Nicole Dorsky Schaefer (Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP). Students enrolled in this Lab prepare research memos for the Coast Guard related to national border and port security.
• The School of Law will also continue to offer the “Global Financial Integrity Lab,” taught by Professor Richard Gordon. Among other projects, students enrolled in this Lab prepare research memos for the IMF and World Bank on issues related to combating terrorist financing.
• Finally, the School of Law will offer a new course in Spring 2008, “Intervention and Law in Vietnam and Iraq,” taught by Institute Director Professor Robert Strassfeld. Using the examples of U.S. Intervention in Vietnam and Iraq, this course will examine some of the international and domestic legal issues raised by war and military intervention. Among the topics covered will be the legal justifications for intervention and the arguments for the illegality of the two wars; constitutional limits on executive war-making powers; the justiciability of issues of war and peace under U.S. law; the draft, the volunteer army, and conscientious objection; GI rights and GI dissent; the law of war and international humanitarian law; and the recurring problems of massacre, murder, and torture.

Co-Curricular Opportunities
Students interested in assisting the Institute in its projects and conferences can serve as "Global Security Law Fellows." For 2007-2008, the Global Security Law Fellows are 3L Tyler Davidson and 3L Kathleen Gibson. Selected through a spring application/interview process, the Global Security Law Fellows help organize and run the Institute’s conferences and lectures and provide research support for the Institute’s projects and website.

The Institute also works with the law school's Student National Security Law Society (NSLS), which sponsors speakers, debates, and activities that offer students the opportunity to explore in depth areas of national and global security from immigration regulations to the Patriot Act. This year's NSLS President is 2L Michael Pierson.

View a list of the Institute's affiliated Professors.