Research Agenda
My research crosses the fields of international relations theory, intelligence studies, foreign policy, international law, and human rights. It speaks to the tension between security and human rights, how and why organizations change, how foreign policies are formulated, and when law can make a difference.
Book project
My current book project, “Speaking Law to War: International Law, Legal Advisers, and Bureaucratic Contestation in U.S. Defense Policy,” represents the first systematic examination of how the institutionalization of international law into the U.S. national security apparatus has affected its decision making process and the conduct of war. My research goes beyond macro explanations—self-interests or acculturation—for compliance. Instead, it highlights the mechanisms that show precisely how international law makes a difference in states’ behavior. I introduce the “legalized bureaucratic politics” theory, which emphasizes that the incorporation of international law into the structure and culture of the various national security bureaucracies has changed the rules of the decision making and policy implementation game. In addition, the theory highlights new empowered agents—civilian and military legal advisers—that serve as internal norm entrepreneurs advocating a more law-conscious policy.
For the book I have carried out archival research in four Presidential libraries and at the National Archives, and conducted more than 80 in-depth interviews with current and former U.S. legal advisers and policymakers, including: former National Security Advisor, General James L. Jones; former CIA and NSA Director, General Michael V. Hayden; former Acting Secretary of Defense and State Department Legal Adviser, William Howard Taft IV; former Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage; former Undersecretary for Defense for Policy, Michèle Flournoy; former NSC Counterterrorism 'Czar,' Richard A. Clarke; former White House General Counsel, John W. Dean; former DOD General Counsel Judith A. Miller; former NSC Legal Adviser Mary DeRosa; former NSC and State Department Legal Adviser John Bellinger III; former NSC Legal Adviser, Judge James E. Baker; former Judge Advocate General for the US Army, General Dana K. Chipman; former General Counsel of the Navy, Alberto J. Mora; former Acting CIA General Counsel, John Rizzo; former General Counsel for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard C. Gross; and current General Counsel for the ODNI, Robert S. Litt.
Book project
My current book project, “Speaking Law to War: International Law, Legal Advisers, and Bureaucratic Contestation in U.S. Defense Policy,” represents the first systematic examination of how the institutionalization of international law into the U.S. national security apparatus has affected its decision making process and the conduct of war. My research goes beyond macro explanations—self-interests or acculturation—for compliance. Instead, it highlights the mechanisms that show precisely how international law makes a difference in states’ behavior. I introduce the “legalized bureaucratic politics” theory, which emphasizes that the incorporation of international law into the structure and culture of the various national security bureaucracies has changed the rules of the decision making and policy implementation game. In addition, the theory highlights new empowered agents—civilian and military legal advisers—that serve as internal norm entrepreneurs advocating a more law-conscious policy.
For the book I have carried out archival research in four Presidential libraries and at the National Archives, and conducted more than 80 in-depth interviews with current and former U.S. legal advisers and policymakers, including: former National Security Advisor, General James L. Jones; former CIA and NSA Director, General Michael V. Hayden; former Acting Secretary of Defense and State Department Legal Adviser, William Howard Taft IV; former Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage; former Undersecretary for Defense for Policy, Michèle Flournoy; former NSC Counterterrorism 'Czar,' Richard A. Clarke; former White House General Counsel, John W. Dean; former DOD General Counsel Judith A. Miller; former NSC Legal Adviser Mary DeRosa; former NSC and State Department Legal Adviser John Bellinger III; former NSC Legal Adviser, Judge James E. Baker; former Judge Advocate General for the US Army, General Dana K. Chipman; former General Counsel of the Navy, Alberto J. Mora; former Acting CIA General Counsel, John Rizzo; former General Counsel for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard C. Gross; and current General Counsel for the ODNI, Robert S. Litt.