National Security Law Commons^™

Playing To Win: The Use Of Export Controls To Address Non-Military Strategic Competition, Joshua Angelo

Duke Law & Technology Review

Technology and national security have been intimately related throughout American history. Over the past eighty-five years, the United States has increasingly made use of export controls to prevent adversarial countries from using the fruits of its technological advancement to strengthen their militaries and harm American interests. Today, strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China involves a myriad of technologies which present risks outside of, as well as within, the military context. Chinese exports of technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and 5G communications, can promote the country’s authoritarian model abroad, enable economic coercion, and help to enrich the regime. …

Data Privacy At The Border: How To Balance National Security Concerns And Privacy Interests When Conducting Forensic Border Searches Of Electronic Devices, Eleni Filley

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Do you know where your phone is? Can you describe the last five pictures in your camera roll? How many websites have you visited this month? Cell phones are an extension of our person and contain some of our most private data: location, banking, loved ones, sleep statistics, reproductive information, and more. As our technology develops, so too should our laws. This Note explores the lack of privacy protections at the U.S. border and how susceptible our data is to a government search. A Supreme Court ruling recognizing the unique piece of property a cell phone represents, even at a …

The National Security Of Inbound & Outbound Investment: Reforming Cfius And Foci, S. Connor Cheadle

William & Mary Business Law Review

This Note examines the evolution and contemporary significance of regulatory frameworks guiding the involvement of private corporations in the U.S. national security regime and the regime’s regulation of inbound and outbound investments as they pertain to national security interests. This Note focuses primarily on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and Foreign Ownership Control or Influence (FOCI) as regulatory mechanisms. Originating from the Cold War and adapted to post-9/11 security concerns, the scope of national security has widened from the traditional defense and intelligence functions to a more all-encompassing interest, including economic policy and the actions …

Comparative And Evaluative Research On The Data Infrastructure Policies Of Central And Local Governments In China Before And After The Implementation Of The "Twenty Measures For Data", Haiqun Ma, Tongtong Yu, Hangong Wang, Tao Zhang

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance]To explore the direction for provincial governments to further plan data policies, with the aim of providing support for the establishment and improvement of data infrastructure systems in various regions. [Method/process] This article adopts the method of text similarity calculation to compare the policy texts of 22 provinces' data policies released before 2023 with the "Twenty Data Articles", and selects the "Twenty Provincial Version Data Articles" of 8 provinces for policy evaluation research. [Result/conclusion]The data shows that in terms of comparing data infrastructure systems, the data policies introduced by 22 provincial governments before 2023 show a relatively high overall similarity …

Property And Prejudice, Fatma E. Marouf, Vanessa Casado Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

“Alien land laws”—laws restricting noncitizens from owning real property—are back. A dozen states have enacted such laws during the past year, and over thirty states have considered such bills. These new bills are rooted in xenophobia, much like their predecessors, but they also have unique characteristics. They single out governments, citizens, and corporations of specific countries perceived to pose a threat; they impose ownership restrictions based on arbitrary distances to U.S. military bases and critical infrastructure; they inflict particularly harsh penalties; and they try to ferret out foreign control in complex corporate structures. The purported justifications are national defense, food …

Some Issues In Armed Conflict And Human Rights: Issues Toward Human Rights And Applicable Law In The Battlefield, Hiroshi Saito

Japanese Society and Culture

In recent years, Japan’s legal system regarding defense has improved, but little research has been conducted on what would happen if Japanese territory became a battlefield. Due to the Japan–US Security Treaty and the Japan–US Status of Forces Agreement, Japanese territory could technically become a space for armed conflict in the wake of US military action. If this happened, various legal issues would arise, but under the Japanese Constitution and domestic laws, which are primarily concerned with the protection of human rights, there would be a dual application of international humanitarian law and domestic laws including the Constitution. An important …

By All Means Available: Memoirs Of A Life In Intelligence, Special Operations, And Strategy, Todd Greentree

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Todd Greentree examines By All Means Available: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy by Michael G. Vickers, who Greentree views as an exemplar of strategic leadership for current and future leaders.

Parameters Spring 2025, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Spring 2025 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Russia, Ukraine, and NATO; Strategic Competition and Managing National Security; and Joint Sustainment Strategies), the regular Civil-Military Relations Corner installment, and a review essay.

Ukraine’S Not-So-Whole-Of-Society At War: Force Generation In Modern Developed Societies, Ilmari Käihkö, Jan Willem Honig

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues that Ukraine offers a cautionary tale regarding the two main modern models of force generation. Neither the professional high-tech war model, favored by Western militaries, nor the whole-of-society war approach, said to have saved Ukraine in 2014 and 2022, proved successful formulas for Ukraine. Considering that Ukraine is fighting for survival, with Russian forces inside the country, the failure of both models in action has serious implications for NATO member states as they deliberate their choices regarding future force generation.

Measuring Interoperability Within Nato: Adapted Off-The-Shelf Or Bespoke Solution?, John R. Deni, Matthew R. Macleod, Sarah E. Stewart, Katherine M. Banko, Adrian Jones

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Despite decades of work on interoperability, NATO Allies cannot measure, assess, and build upon it fully and accurately. The lack of agreed formats or standards for collection, management, and the communication of findings have prevented the Allies from developing common interoperability measurement and assessment tools. Nonetheless, NATO could adopt extant standards, methodologies, processes, or tools to achieve its interoperability objectives. Testing this notion through use cases, the authors identify practical and conceptual hurdles to adopting an off-the-shelf solution. They conclude that the Alliance may need to create assessment standards, methodologies, processes, and tools from scratch, despite the difficulties of doing …

Keynote Address: The Movement To Protect Kids From Addictive Technologies, Gaia Bernstein

Seattle University Law Review

In this keynote address, I describe my personal journey starting with a school outreach program I created in 2017 to address technology overuse among kids. While I initially advocated for self-help methods, I grew to recognize that the tech industry bore responsibility. This realization led me to write Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies, which focused on collective action to pressure the tech industry to redesign its addictive products.

I then describe the movement to control addictive technologies and protect kids, which has gained momentum since the end of the pandemic. This movement combines grassroots parent activism with legal-political action. …

Moral Panic Or Public Health Crisis? Lessons From Drugs And Gambling For “Addictive” Design, Matthew B. Lawrence, Haomin (Kevin) Yan

Seattle University Law Review

Alcohol, automobiles, guns, lottery, loot boxes, meat, music, opioid painkillers, processed foods, prop bets, slot machines, television, tobacco, violent video games. Over the last century each of these has been subject to concerns—some might even say “moral panics”—from parents and policymakers about avoidable harms to kids and adults. In some cases we look back with the benefit of hindsight and dismiss those concerns as naïve or moralistic. In others we look back at them as justified or as having come too late to check an expanding industry before it did unfathomable harm while growing so powerful that it became all …

The Ai Doppelgänger Dilemma: Cloned Voices In The Music Industry, Elizabeth Shields

Seattle University Law Review

With the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI), there has been an influx of “voice clones”—deep-learning algorithms that create synthetic speech to realistically mimic human voices. Celebrities and, in particular, music artists, have been subjected to the proliferation of AI voice clones on social media platforms like TikTok and streaming platforms such as Spotify. Despite music utilizing AI voice clones having amassed much popularity, this technology can be harmful and highly invasive to musicians whose livelihoods often depend on their distinct voices. While legal scholars have attempted to articulate various rights that could protect a person’s voice, individuals are largely …

Re-Imagining Tomorrow: A Technology, Innovation Law, And Ethics Symposium On Addictive Technology And Children, Margaret Chon

Seattle University Law Review

In this Foreword, Professor Margaret Chon introduces Seattle University's Technology, Innovation Law, and Ethics (TILE) program, the 2024 TILE Symposium, and Dr. Gaia Bernstein’s Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies.

Let The Sunshine In: Crafting Constitutional Transparency Regulations For Content Moderation, Caitlin Ring Carlson

Seattle University Law Review

In response to public concern about the impact of social media, legislators in some U.S. states have developed laws to regulate the process of content moderation. Many include mandatory transparency and disclosure requirements, some of which courts have already deemed an unconstitutional infringement on social media platforms’ right to free expression. This article explores the parameters for crafting constitutional social media transparency regulations using existing U.S. media policy and insights from recent legal challenges. The resulting analysis identifies content neutral transparency requirements that mandate the disclosure of purely factual, non-controversial information as those most likely to withstand judicial scrutiny. Specifically, …

This Is Not A Game: The Addictive Allure Of Digital Companions, Nizan Geslevich Packin, Karni Chagal-Feferkorn

Seattle University Law Review

Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents have become an inescapable part of modern childhood, reshaping education, leisure activities, entertainment, and social interaction. From AI-powered tutors that adapt to individual learning styles to emotionally responsive chatbots that simulate human companionship, these systems promise unprecedented personalization, cognitive stimulation, and social support. However, these benefits mask significant risks that remain unregulated and inadequately addressed.

Although adults are also susceptible to forming deep emotional bonds with AI companions—often trusting them as if they possessed genuine understanding and empathy—children are particularly vulnerable. Their misplaced trust can more severely distort social development, weaken critical thinking, and foster unhealthy …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Responding To Digital Addiction, Ned Snow

Seattle University Law Review

In Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies, Professor Gaia Bernstein calls our attention to the growing problem of digital addiction. Digital addiction may sound like something out of a science-fiction novel or something that does not raise the same sort of real-life practical concerns as are present in a physical health crisis or an economic decline. But as Bernstein presents the evidence, we learn that the consequences of digital addiction can be just as harmful as a serious disease or a financial depression. Cognitive development disorders, anxiety, emotional depression, social isolation, and other mental health ills can be debilitating—as much …

Adopting Permissioned Blockchain Models To Enhance Consumer Protection And Comply With Consumer Protection Laws, Erika Buenrostro

Featured Student Work

Blockchain technology enables decentralized, peer-to-peer transactions and data management, offering transparency while raising data privacy and consumer protection concerns. As the current administration promotes blockchain adoption, including cryptocurrency, more users and businesses will likely integrate the technology. This thesis provides a framework to help businesses adopt blockchain while ensuring compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). To prevent data mishandling and legal penalties, consumers and businesses must stay informed about the risks and evolving state privacy laws.

A CCPA-compliant approach retains blockchain’s benefits through a permissioned model, storing only non-personal (neutral) data on-chain while keeping personal information off-chain in …

Existential Threats And Deterrence: Japan’S Legal Pathway To Enhanced Collective Security In Asia, Nobuhisa Ishizuka

Faculty Scholarship

With the Japanese Cabinet’s decision in December 2022 to comprehensively upgrade Japan’s security posture, and its rapid build-up of its defense capabilities, Japan’s role in Asia’s security architecture has been undergoing a fundamental shift. This article places Japan’s 2015 Peace and Security Legislation in the context of the U.N. collective security system and argues that its most significant achievement has been to expand Japan’s power to engage more proactively in the Asian collective security order. To date, commentators have focused on the legislation’s role in expanding the Japanese constitution’s limitations on the use of force to permit collective self-defense. This …

Discretion, Deference, And Dysfunction: U.S. Refugee Resettlement From Egypt, Cassandra Mcclellan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates refugee resettlement from Egypt to the U.S., as facilitated by UNHCR Egypt and the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). Accordingly, the research questions ask what factors determine the volume and profile of refugees UNHCR Egypt submits to USRAP for resettlement, as well as the related determining factors for refugees rejected from and accepted to USRAP. A fourth research question examines the impacts of U.S. refugee policy on the resettlement system in Egypt, including on UNHCR Egypt and refugees. To answer these questions, the thesis first delves into the history of U.S. immigration and refugee policies, with a …

The Power Of Procedure: Uncovering The Gap In U.S. Privacy Rights, Bernard Chao, Mandi Abbott

Pepperdine Law Review

As Congress faces increasing pressure to adopt comprehensive privacy legislation, this Article seeks to contribute to the ongoing discussions by exploring critical procedural deficiencies in U.S. privacy laws and their implications for domestic privacy rights and international data flows. This Article makes several key contributions to the field. First, it uses a comparative law perspective to highlight the lack of robust procedural rights and remedies in U.S. privacy law. Second, while many have questioned whether the Court of Jus tice for the European Union will strike down the latest U.S.-EU Data Privacy Framework (the primary mechanism for allowing the transatlantic …

Louboutin Lawfare: Exploring Conceptions Of Sanctions' Utility Through Export Controls On Luxury Goods, Vinita R. Singh

Northwestern University Law Review

There is widespread consensus amongst scholars that sanctions—the deliberate withdrawal of customary trade and financial relations—do not work. Despite this perception, states are deploying sanctions at an increasing rate. This Article explains this paradox by arguing the predominant notion of sanctions’ utility employed by scholars is unduly constrained, narrowly focusing on the ability of such measures to modify the behavior of sanctioned parties while disregarding the alternative benefits this instrument can deliver. To support this argument, this Article uses export controls on luxury goods deployed in connection with the Russo–Ukraine War as a case study. Under prevailing perceptions of sanctions’ …

The Compact Clause And Cyberwar, Josie Laing

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

This article seeks to bring attention to the potential modern utility of Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3: the Compact Clause. This section of the Constitution has historically been archived. However, given cyberspace’s ever-growing prominence, the Compact Clause should be reconsidered as cyber warfare presents a novel opportunity for states to exercise their sovereign rights.

Section 10 restricts states’ powers to engage with foreign entities. Without the consent of Congress, states cannot enter into agreements with foreign powers or engage in war. These restrictions on states were necessary when the Constitution was drafted. To navigate foreign affairs nimbly, the United …

The Danger In Designations: U.S. Terrorism Designation Lists In Gaza And Beyond, Elizabeth Beavers

American University National Security Law Brief

What is “terrorism”? The term has surged in U.S. political discourse following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel’s subsequent onslaught of Gaza, and escalating violence in the region involving Iran and similarly aligned groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis. U.S. politicians and thought leaders have characterized U.S. support for Israel’s bombardment as a fight against “terror,” described the violence conducted by Palestinians and their backers as “terrorism,” and accused pro-Palestinian U.S. protestors of “supporting terrorism.”

More than mere political rhetoric, “terrorism” is a term that carries big legal consequences. This is in large part because the U.S. …

Fragmentation Of International Cybercrime Law, Mailyn Fidler

Law Faculty Scholarship

Cybercrime is global. But legal approaches to combating cybercrime have been fragmented. The first such multilateral legal mechanism, the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, was launched in 2001 and positioned by its primarily Western drafters as a global instrument. But it has struggled to achieve full international uptake. Instead, many states have used regional organizations to create their own legal mechanisms addressing cybercrime and cybersecurity threats. More recently, the UN Convention on Cybercrime has emerged as an alternative to this fragmented landscape. But the emergence and significance of this “convergent” option cannot be understood without the context of the deep fragmentation …

Voting Matters: Materiality Considerations And The Shareholder Vote, Renee M. Jones

Seattle University Law Review

For the shareholder franchise to have meaning, shareholders must have access to relevant information to inform their voting decisions. The securities laws’ disclosure requirements play an essential role in informing the shareholder vote.

This Essay focuses on the question of the materiality of information in the context of shareholder voting. It addresses the question of whether ESG-related information is material, positioning the materiality inquiry within the context of shareholders’ voting decisions. It explores the definition of materiality with a focus on the “reasonable investor” concept embedded within the definition. The Essay argues that the implicit expectations of many commentators that …

National Security Issues Arising In Anticorruption Enforcement, Anthony J. Lewis, Aisling O'Shea

American University National Security Law Brief

The overlap between national security and corruption has long been recognized; however, the government’s views on the nature of the overlap have shifted over time. For instance, in June 2021, the Biden administration announced an initiative to combat corruption as a core national security interest. The administration ordered a review by fifteen government agencies and offices, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Then, in February 2025, the Trump administration declared that “overexpansive and unpredictable” enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (“FCPA”) “actively harms American competitiveness and, therefore, national security.” …

The United States’ Strengthened National Security Review Of Chinese Investment: Implications From The Tech War, Charles C. Wang, Ulia Liu, Holden H. Dong

American University International Law Review

In recent years, the national security review system of United States (U.S.) foreign investment has entered into a period of intensified scrutiny of Chinese investment. This article analyzes the latest development of the U.S. foreign investment national security review system after the enactment of the 2018 Foreign Investment Risk Review and Modernization Act (FIRRMA) and relevant Executive Orders. The U.S. review of Chinese investment has been greatly strengthened in terms of the expanded scope of review in high-tech areas and prolonged and unpredictable review time. China has become the primary target of the U.S. national security review, especially in the …

Through A Glass Darkly: How Securities Disclosures Give A Distorted View Of The Economy, Gerald F. Davis

Seattle University Law Review

Our understanding of the American economy often relies on stylized facts derived from mandatory disclosures by listed corporations. Data vendors like Standard & Poor’s vacuum up 10Ks and proxy statements into databases, and scholars distill these into tentative maps. This may have been adequate for a postwar economy centered on asset-heavy manufacturers, but it is increasingly out of step with an information-based economy. Companies listed on the stock market are fewer in number and less representative than they were, light in tangible assets and people, and heavy on IP. Basic facts such as what industry they are in are increasingly …