Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law Oona A. Hathaway ’97 explains, in interviews and writing, how classified documents work and why overclassification is a problem.
The U.S. constitution divides war powers between the executive and legislative branches, so as to ensure that decisions about using force are collective and deliberative. Lawmakers’ role has receded, however, particularly in recent decades. Small steps would help them start reclaiming their prerogatives.
I think the question of our era, or at least one of the questions of our era, is whether the international legal order is going to continue to exist in that form.