Spring 2025
This course will examine how the United States creates, enforces, and interprets law, and allocates power among components of the U.S. Government in the field of foreign relations. This course will provide students with a framework to answer the following questions: (1) How does the U.S. Constitution and allocate power among the three branches of the federal government and the states in foreign relations? (2) When will U.S. courts recognize non-U.S. and international law as authoritative under U.S. law? (3) How does the U.S. federal government reach agreements with foreign countries that have binding effect in the United States? (4) When is U.S. state law in the field of foreign affairs pre-empted by federal law? And (5) How has the law been interpreted in key settings, e.g., the conduct of war, international trade, and regulating commerce? The course will focus not only on black letter law, but also historical events in foreign relations that gave rise to the law. It also will look at specific settings in which key foreign relations concepts arise in international conflict, war, trade, and investment.
