How the National Security Constitution Evolved and What To Do about It?

Americans have long trumpeted the checks and balances that animate their constitution, but the dramatic first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency have called this into question.

In this talk, and in his new book, The National Security Constitution in the 21st Century, Harold Hongju Koh, Sterling Professor of International Law and former Dean at Yale Law School, former Legal Adviser and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the State Department, explains how the national security laws in the U.S. have changed. From a “shared powers” model — where responsibility and authority are divided between different branches of government (especially between the President and Congress) — to “executive unilateralism” — where the President increasingly acts alone in national security matters, without needing approval or input from Congress. Koh’s lecture will investigate how the second Trump presidency has already elevated executive unilateralism into an overarching constitutional rationale.

Join the Academy and Harold Hongju Koh to explore this historical shift in the United States, and to learn what actions should be taken now in response to this change.

In cooperation with the Integrative Research Institute Law & Society, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin