Administrative Foreign and Security Policy

About

Speaker: Elena Chachko, Research Fellow, International Security Program

A growing number of U.S. foreign and security measures in the past two decades has directly targeted individuals—natural or legal persons. These individualized measures have largely been designed and implemented by administrative agencies. Widespread application of individual economic sanctions, ranging from terrorism sanctions to sanctions against Russian individuals for election meddling; security watchlists; detentions; targeted killings; and individualized cyber countermeasures have all become significant currencies of modern foreign and security policies since the early 2000s. The constant development of technology for precision targeting and algorithmic decision-making will likely continue driving this trend. While the application of many of these measures in discrete contexts has been studied, they have yet to attract a holistic analysis.

The speaker will examine the individualization phenomenon through the lens of administrative law and theory. It has two main aims. First, it documents what she calls "administrative foreign and security policy": the growing individualization of U.S. foreign and security policy, the administrative mechanisms that have facilitated this trend, and the judicial response to these mechanisms. Second, she examines how administrative foreign and security policy integrates with the President and the courts. She argues that accounting for administrative foreign and security policy illuminates the President's constitutional role as chief executive and commander-in-chief, as well as the applicability of Elena Kagan's influential concept of Presidential Administration in the foreign and security realm. The speaker then considers how administrative foreign and security policy informs scholars and policymakers' understanding of the role of courts in this context. She argues that it renders more foreign and security action reviewable in court and provides a justification for judicial review in those areas.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Contact

For more information, email the International Security Program Assistant at susan_lynch@harvard.edu.