National Security Law involves many different areas of the law, but it is chiefly concerned with the balance between liberty and security. It involves such differing topics as control of national borders, financing of terrorist organizations, use of economic sanctions, shielding security-sensitive information from public scrutiny, conducting clandestine operations, identifying internal threats, and detaining those suspected of threatening national security. It also includes more broadly the law of armed conflict and military justice law, which are specifically addressed elsewhere in this guide. See Geoffrey Corn et al., National Security Law: Principles and Policy (Wolters Kluwers, 2015).
Researchers working in the area of national security law will likely conduct research in international law, constitutional law, and criminal law, among other legal areas. This section of the Military Law Research Guide seeks to identify the main primary sources of law that will be relevant for a broad field of legal research areas and provide tools and strategies to use throughout the research process.
This portion of the Military Law Research Guide outlines the important content areas for researching in National Security Law and contains the following sections:
