Eric Posner: The Threat of Lawfare is Overhyped
In a very interesting essay in the new National Interest, Eric Posner contends that the supposed threat of "lawfare" is much over-hyped. His concluding paragraph captures the broad outline of his argument:
Putting aside the constraints of politics and technology, all that is left of lawfare is the trivial threat of foreign and international law. Internationalists of various stripes believe that law stands above and beyond politics.
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In a very interesting essay in the new National Interest, Eric Posner contends that the supposed threat of "lawfare" is much over-hyped. His concluding paragraph captures the broad outline of his argument:
Putting aside the constraints of politics and technology, all that is left of lawfare is the trivial threat of foreign and international law. Internationalists of various stripes believe that law stands above and beyond politics. In fact, the use of law depends on power, and is enforced by those who have it against those who do not. Failure to understand this fact will lead the United States down a foolhardy path, wasting resources on unneeded JAGs and tying the military’s hands. The irony is that the hardheaded officials who run the national-security apparatus fear chimeras conjured up by the dreamiest internationalists.
Robert (Bobby) Chesney is the Dean of the University of Texas School of Law, where he also holds the James A. Baker III Chair in the Rule of Law and World Affairs at UT. He is known internationally for his scholarship relating both to cybersecurity and national security. He is a co-founder of Lawfare, the nation’s leading online source for analysis of national security legal issues, and he co-hosts the popular show The National Security Law Podcast.
