Baker Chair Transatlantic Dialogues

Addressing international security and law

About the Program

Bringing together academic, military, NGO, and government experts

The Strauss Center sponsors several initiatives concerned with the evolution of armed conflict and political violence, including their strategic and legal dimensions.

This yearly program, conducted in partnership with other leading academic and international institutions on both sides of the Atlantic, addresses timely topics in the areas of international security and law, terrorism trials and investigations, and surveillance in an international context. All these events are made possible through funding from James A. Baker, III Chair in Rule of Law in World Affairs.

Strauss Center Dialogues:

Transatlantic Dialogue on International Law and Armed Conflict (West Point)

In June 2019, the Strauss Center, in conjunction with the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare at West Point, the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, and South Texas College of Law in Houston, presented the 7th annual Transatlantic Dialogue on International Law and Armed Conflict. The invitation-only annual Transatlantic Workshop brought together academic, military, and government experts to discuss current challenges in international humanitarian law. The 2019 workshop focused on current challenges relating to law-making and compliance with the law of armed conflict, and also examined the application of the law of armed conflict in contexts where other bodies of law might also applicable.

Transatlantic Dialogue on International Law and Armed Conflict (Florence)

In July 2018, the Robert Strauss Center, in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross, Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict, the Individualization of War Project, and the European University Institute, hosted the 6th annual Transatlantic Dialogue. The 2018 workshop explored the cutting edge of international law issues relating to armed conflict, with a roughly equal mix both of (i) American and European participants and (ii) academic and government/military practitioners. The discussions take place in an off-the-record setting, enabling a robust dialogue. In July 2017, the Robert Strauss Center, in partnership with same co-sponsors, hosted the 5th annual Transatlantic Dialogue on International Law and Armed Conflict, also in Florence, Italy.

Transatlantic Dialogue on International Law and Armed Conflict (Oxford)

The Transatlantic Dialogue on International Law and Armed Conflict is an annual event focusing on the intersection of international law and armed conflict. This program is co-sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Oxford University's Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict. Each summer, the program assembles a broad mix of civilian, military, and governmental experts from both North America and the United Kingdom, for a roundtable workshop examining fundamental questions of international law relating to military operations. The event places a particular emphasis on the potential for clashes—and for reconciliation—in circumstances seemingly implicating both International Humanitarian Law (a.k.a., the Law of Armed Conflict) and International Human Rights Law. The July 2016 workshop focused on procedural obligations arising under the law of armed conflict. The 2015 workshop examined issues ranging from targeting, humanitarian access, and foreign intervention in armed conflict to the judicial application of international humanitarian law.

Transatlantic Dialogue on Surveillance (Berlin)

In June 2016, the Robert Strauss Center, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Berlin), and the University of Glasgow School of Law convened the first Transatlantic Dialogue on Surveillance, in Berlin, Germany. Discussions focused on the current international debate over the balancing of national security and individual privacy rights.

Transatlantic Dialogue on Terrorism Trials and Investigations (New York)

In May 2016, the Robert Strauss Center and the New York University School of Law hosted the first Transatlantic Dialogue on Terrorism Trials and Investigations, chaired by the Honorable Lewis A. Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. This event involved a unique and timely dialogue concerning the investigation and prosecution of terrorism-related cases, featuring judges, prosecutors, and defense counsel from both the United States and the United Kingdom.

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