Prerequisites: None

Exam Type: In Class

This course examines the law governing the conduct of U.S. foreign relations. The Constitution sets out the basic framework for foreign relations law, but it leaves much unsaid and at least as much subject to interbranch contests for power. Topics will include: the allocation of authorities between the executive, legislature, and judiciary; the political question, act of state, and other doctrines that judges use in foreign relations-related cases; the role of states and federalism in foreign relations; the scope of the treaty power and U.S. practices for making and terminating international agreements; and the frameworks governing emergency powers and the use of force.