GW National Security Law

10/02/2025

Last week, GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program and the National Security Law Association hosted a “National Security Careers in Law Firms” panel to a full audience in the Burns Moot Court Room. The panel, moderated by Professor of Practice Jonathan Cedarbaum, featured partners from four law firms whose practices span different aspects of national security law, each with impressive and varied career paths. The panelists described how they entered the field and outlined the scope of their current work. They highlighted the tremendous growth of national security practice areas in recent years, particularly export controls, sanctions compliance, and matters relating to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Panelists encouraged students to take advantage of GW Law's Washington, D.C. location —the epicenter of national security legal practice—by pursuing relevant clerkships and internships and by building connections with practitioners in the field. They also fielded student questions on the effectiveness of national security policy, interactions with the U.S. and foreign governments, and anticipated developments in the years ahead. A key piece of advice was to stay closely attuned to current legal and policy debates, and the arguments behind them, to deepen understanding and stand out in the field.

A huge thank you to panelists Les Carnegie (Latham & Watkins), Brandon L. Van Grack (Morrison Foerster), Julie Edelstein (Wiggin and Dana LLP), and Bijan Ganji '10 (Milbank LLP), as well as to the GW Law students in attendance who made the National Security Careers in Law Firms Panel such a successful event.

09/22/2025

GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program, in cooperation with the Veteran Law Students Association (VLSA), recently held its annual Veterans Welcome Back Reception. This year’s event featured a welcome speech from Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew and remarks from Lieutenant General (Ret.) Stuart W. Risch, who served as the 41st Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army.

On September 4, GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program held its annual Veterans Welcome Back Reception.

09/22/2025

Earlier this month, GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program and Military Law Society co-hosted the annual Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) recruiter panel, where JAGs from each military branch provided GW Law students with insights and information about the critical work of service in the JAG Corps. Thank you to all our panelists and to the student attendees for a highly successful event!

GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program and the MLS co-hosted the annual JAG recruiter panel earlier this month.

08/21/2025

GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program is proud to welcome Mary Rose Papandrea, Burchfield Professor of Free Speech Law, as an affiliated member of our faculty. A leading scholar on the First Amendment, free speech, and media law, Professor Papandrea also brings extensive expertise on government secrecy, national security leaks, and the reporter’s privilege. She has written widely on these subjects, and we are delighted that our students and our program will benefit from her scholarship and insight.

08/14/2025

GWU offers fully online or hybrid LLM/MSL degrees in National Security & Cybersecurity Law or National Security & Foreign Relations Law (MSL for non-JD holders) on Fort Belvoir. Fort Belvoir courses, taught at the U.S. Army Advocacy Center for those authorized access to the installation, allow degree completion within two years. Learn more: https://youtu.be/dRQGtUOjJOM

Spring 2026 Deadline is 5 December!

For more information you can reach out to the GW Law Associate Dean for National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law, Lisa Schenck, at [email protected] or the Assistant Dean for Graduate and International Programs, Shehernaz Joshi at [email protected]

07/25/2025

Professor Murphy Lectures at 2025 Seoul Academy of International Law

On July 7-9 2025, Sean D. Murphy, the Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law, provided three lectures on the law of the sea at the Seoul Academy of International Law in the Republic of Korea. Each year, the Academy convenes about 40 government diplomats, lawyers, and judges from across East Asia for a two-week series of lectures on various topics of international law.

Professor Murphy’s lectures identified the basic international rules and institutions governing the oceans, but also applied them to difficult contemporary problems, including rising sea levels due to climate change and the challenges in maritime boundary delimitation.

Professor Murphy also provided a lecture on July 11 at the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul to a group of government diplomats and lawyers, as well as Korean scholars. The lecture, entitled “International Law before and after Pax Americana,” addressed the U.S. role over the twentieth century in promoting a world order based on international rules and institutions, underwritten by U.S. economic strength and military power, followed by a decline during this century in the United States playing such a role, with consequential effects for international law and institutions.

07/09/2025

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: For this Faculty Spotlight, we are highlighting Major General (Ret.) John D. Altenburg. Prof. Altenburg is currently a principal with the Washington D.C. office of the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP. He served as a lawyer in the U.S. Army JAG Corps for 28 years. His national security law experience includes service or legal oversight in Vietnam, Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo. From 1997 to 2001, he was The Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Army and Designated Senior Ethics Official for the Army. Prof. Altenburg has lectured frequently around the world and at U.S. law schools on leadership and mentoring, trial advocacy, legal aspects of peacekeeping and combat operations, and other national security issues. In the fall, Prof. Altenburg is co-teaching Law 6870: National Security Law, with Professor Dan Stigall.

07/03/2025

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Michael K. Atkinson is a partner in the White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement group at Crowell & Moring in Washington DC, where he also co-leads the firm’s National Security practice group. He is the former Presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed Inspector General of the U.S. Intelligence Community and previously served in senior U.S. Department of Justice roles spanning two decades. During his career, Prof. Atkinson has led some of the most significant criminal fraud, public corruption, and national security cases in the United States. He earned his undergraduate degree at Syracuse University and his law degree at Cornell University Law School.

In the fall, Prof. Atkinson will be teaching Law 6881: Artificial Intelligence Law & Policy with Prof. Tanner Mathison.

06/27/2025

GW Law’s own Professor of Practice Jonathan Cedarbaum recently cohosted a fascinating podcast episode for Lawfare about the history and evolution of ransomware, the threat it poses to national security, and potential responses. The episode involved Professor Cedarbaum and his co-host, Justin Sherman, interviewing Max Smeets on his new book, Ransom War: How Cyber Crime became a Threat to National Security. You can check it out here:

How did cybercrime become a threat to national security?

06/20/2025

Theodore H. Massey III is a 2025 graduate of the George Washington University Law School, National Security & Cybersecurity Law, LL.M. program. An active duty Major in the U.S. Marine Corps, he has served as the Staff Judge Advocate at Marine Barracks Washington D.C since 2022. In that role, he is the legal advisor for the Commanding Officer, providing guidance on military justice, use of force, administrative law and investigations, and constitutional law, along with any and all other legal issues that might arise. Major Massey previously served as Senior Defense Counsel to the Military Commissions Defense Organization and in several positions at the U.S. Naval Academy, including as Assistant Professor and Director of the Naval Academy Leadership Conference. He will soon bring his extensive expertise to a new position as appellate defense counsel for the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. In addition to his GW Law LL.M., Major Massey holds a J.D. and LL.M. in International Law from the University of Miami and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Oswego. You can read Major Massey’s recent publication, AI Foundation Models and National Security: A Careful Balance, in Volume 12, Issue 2 of the National Security Law Journal.

06/07/2025

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: James D. Ridgway is partner and Director of Training and Programs at Bergmann & Moore LLC. He previously served as a judge on the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, where he was Chief of Policy and Procedure and later Chief of Strategy, Innovation, and Programs. He is also a past president of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Bar Association and the Veterans Law Journal editor-in-chief. Prof. Ridgway’s work has been cited by the Solicitor General to the Supreme Court, by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to Congress, and by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. He was recently interviewed for an article published in The War Horse on June 5, 2025 entitled, “The Bonus Army of World War I Fought for Their Pay. Now Veterans are Fighting for their Jobs.” In Fall 2025, he will be teaching LAW 6423 Veterans Law.

06/03/2025

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT:
Balaji Narain is the General Counsel for the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, a congressional Commission, where he advises the Commissioners and staff on legal and national security matters. He previously served as General Counsel to Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as General Counsel to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI). Prior to his work in the Senate, Balaji served on Active Duty as a U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate, separating as a Major. During his military service, he deployed as part of the War on Terror and served as Chief of Military Justice and Operations Law in East Africa.

Prof. Barain will be teaching Law 6869-20, National Security on Capitol Hill - How Congress Creates National Security Law and Policy, in Fall 2025.