[We have the following announcement, which, thanks to a new spam catcher, we've only just seen. Note the application deadline. DRE]
Two and half centuries of practice have not resolved basic constitutional questions of how the United States goes to war. This seminar examines why those questions have proven so persistent. We begin with the familiar “make war” problem: whether and how Congress can meaningfully check presidential decisions to use force. We then step back from conventional legalist debates to ask how war powers emerged from deeper problems of state-building, finance, military capacity, slavery, empire, and constitutional design. The seminar next explores those themes through major historical episodes, from the War of 1812 and the Civil War to the Cold War, post-9/11 conflicts, and recent controversies. The final session turns to the present and future, using Iran, AI, cyber operations, and Sino-U.S. conflict to consider how new technologies and strategic environments may again strain the constitutional law of war-making.
[The Institute for Constitutional History is not to be confused with the Institute for Constitutional Studies, which also offers a graduate seminar on constitutional history.]