To put these ideas to work, I give a great deal of my time to public interest projects. I chair the Committee on International Human Rights at the New York City Bar and serve on its Task Force for National Security and the Rule of Law. I also contribute time to various non-profit enterprises, including Next Generation Nepal (about which you can learn on my links page). I have lectured throughout North and South America, Europe, East Asia and in the Middle East.
Previous work. Prior to joining Pace, I practiced corporate law at Debevoise and Plimpton in New York and then created the Worldwide Security Program at the EastWest Institute. I have previously taught in the history department at Yale University, at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and at Columbia Law School. I also served as an Associate Professor at the US Air War College.
Writing. I have published widely in the fields of history, law and international affairs. My doctoral dissertation was published as Navalism and the Emergence of American Sea Power, 1882-1893. Along with Sir Michael Howard and George Andreopoulos, I edited The Laws of War: Constraints on Warfare in the Western World which was the first work to survey this important topic at the nexus of history, law and war. I also edited An Admiral's Yarn which recounted the life and times of Harris Laning, a leading US naval officer whose eventful career spanned from the Spanish-American War to the opening of the Second World War. In 2007, I published The Imperial Presidency and the Consequences of 9/11: Lawyers Respond to the Global War on Terror edited with the distinguished lawyer, Jim Silkenat. This two-volume work collects the amicus briefs, reports, and letters produced by the New York City Bar to help balance liberty and security in the years following 9/11. Currently I am editing a collection of writings by Telford Taylor, the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg.
Education. I received my BA in history from Yale having studied with such magnificent historians as the late Robin Winks, Paul Kennedy and Peter Gay. From there, I went on to pursue a master's degree from Oxford University (Trinity College) -- an education unto itself. Then I went out to the University of California at Berkeley to write a doctoral dissertation in American history and political science under the supervision of Richard Abrams and Nelson W. Polsby. Finally, I earned a JD at Columbia Law School where I served as Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. I have also enjoyed post-doctoral fellowships at Yale and Georgetown and was recently a Visiting Scholar at Yale's International Security Program.
Personal. I live in New York City and spend as much time as possible at my house in Guilford, Connecticut. Much of the year, this means spending countless hours pulling weeds and raking leaves. During the winter, it provides the ideal setting for curling up in front of the fireplace with the newspaper for a nap. I am also an avid runner which affords me opportunities to get to know something more about the countries I visit than I would otherwise glean from a taxi or car.
This photo shows me teaching a class on human rights law at Kuwait University Law School in November, 2006. It was amazing to be there during the week in which Saddam Hussein was found guilty, mid-term elections gave the Democrats a massive victory, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld resigned. The Iraq situation looks very different in Kuwait City.
curriculum vitae