Course Section | Columbia Law School

Section Description Provided by Instructor

The world didn't change on September 11th, 2001; it had already changed in 1990 and 9/11 and the ensuing wars against terror were the result. Thus the Wars against Terror are the successor conflict to the Long War of the 20th century that ended in 1990, and they will drive further changes to the constitutional order beyond those that the end of the Long War brought about.

The Wars on Terror embrace the three distinct but related struggles: to prevent market state terrorism, protect against gross diminution of humane conditions, and preempt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The outcome of these wars will determine whether the new, emerging constitutional order of the market state will be composed of states of consent or states of terror.

Readings. The principal text is Terror and Consent: the Wars for the Twenty-first Century (Knopf, 2008). Further readings will be assigned to each student, depending on the subject matter of the papers to be submitted.

Class format: These classes are invariably a mixture of lecture and class discussion (including Socratic dialogue). In this class a chapter will be presented each week in typical law school format, i.e., by questioning students; the remaining hours that week will be devoted to the professor's answering questions.

Method of Evaluation : There will be a series of very short exams---usually one at the first of each week---to insure that the class is reading off the same page, as it were, before the discussions of the text. These will count for 1/3 the final grade. There will be no traditional final exam. Instead, each student will be expected to write one paper, due at the end of the course. This paper is in lieu of an exam, and therefore will not be subject of conferences with the professor, the preparation of drafts, or the provision of comments. The subjects of these papers will be determined by the professor based in part on the preferences of each student. This paper, approx. 12 pages long, will count for 1/3 the final grade. Class participation will also count for 1/3 of the grade.