Clinical Professor of Law, Emory Law School
As Director of the International Humanitarian Law Clinic, Laurie Blank teaches international humanitarian law and works directly with students to provide assistance to international tribunals, non-governmental organizations, and law firms around the world on cutting-edge issues in humanitarian law and human rights. Professor Blank is the co-author of International Law and Armed Conflict: Fundamental Principles and Contemporary Challenges in the Law of War, a casebook on the law of war (with G. Noone, Aspen Publishing 2013). She is also the co-director of a multi-year project on military training programs in the law of war and the co-author of Law of War Training: Resources for Military and Civilian Leaders (USIP 2008, with G. Noone, second edition 2013). In addition, she is the series editor of the ICRC’s teaching supplements on IHL, a member of the American Bar Association’s Advisory Committee to the Standing Committee on Law and National Security, and a member of the Public Interest Law and Policy Group’s High Level Working Group on Piracy. Before coming to Emory, Professor Blank was a program officer in the Rule of Law Program at the United States Institute of Peace. At USIP, she directed the Experts’ Working Group on International Humanitarian Law, in particular a multi-year project focusing on New Actors in the Implementation and Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law.
She is the author of numerous articles and opinion pieces on topics in international humanitarian law, including, most recently, "Extending Positive Identification from People to Places: Terrorism, Armed Conflict and the Identification of Military Objectives" (Utah Law Review); "Losing the Forest for the Trees: Syria, Law and the Pragmatics of Conflict Recognition" (Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law); "Targeted Strikes: The Consequences of Blurring the Armed Conflict and Self-Defense Justifications" (William Mitchell Law Review); "After Top Gun: How Drone Strikes Impact the Law of War" (University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law); "A Square Peg in a Round Hole: Stretching Law of War Detention Too Far" (Rutgers Law Review); "Defining the Battlefield in Contemporary Conflict and Counterterrorism: Understanding the Parameters of the Zone of Combat" (Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law); and "The Application of IHL in the Goldstone Report: A Critical Commentary" (Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law).
Special Counsel, Hunton & Williams
Mr. Meisburg is a former National Labor Relations Board Member and General Counsel.
Prior to joining Hunton & Williams LLP, Ronald co-chaired the labor-management relations practice at an international law firm. Over the course of his 40-year career, which began with the Office of the Solicitor of the US Department of Labor, Mr. Meisburg has handled matters arising under federal labor and employment law in complex business transactions before federal agencies and courts.
Mr. Meisburg joined the NLRB in 2004, following a recess appointment by President George W. Bush. Two years later, President Bush appointed him to a four-year term as NLRB General Counsel, a position independent from the Board. Serving under the Bush and Obama Administrations as the chief prosecutor under the National Labor Relations Act and chief administrator of the agency’s 32 regional offices, he oversaw a $280 million budget and 1,200 staff.
Ronald has been quoted as a labor law authority by numerous national publications and news organizations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, SHRM Online, Associated Press, Corporate Counsel Magazine, Bloomberg, Reuters, Employment Law 360 and BNA. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences sponsored by trade associations, professional groups and educational institutions, including the US Chamber of Commerce, numerous elite law schools and universities around the world, the Council on Labor Law Equality, Committee for a Democratic Workplace, Labor and Employment Research Association, Equal Employment Advisory Council, Human Resources Policy Association, Labor Relations Advisory Committee, National Retail Federation, Retail Leaders Industry Association, Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, American Arbitration Association and numerous bar associations. Mr. Meisburg has also been recognized by Legal500 USA.
Mr. Meisburg is admitted to practice in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Executive Director, Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD)
Mark Dubowitz is the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan policy institute, where he leads projects on Iran, sanctions, countering threat finance, and nonproliferation.
He is an expert on Iran’s global network including the regime's nuclear, terrorist, missile and cyber threats to the United States and other allies, and is widely recognized as one of the key influencers in shaping sanctions policies to counter the threats emanating from Iran and its surrogates.
Mark was featured as one of the key “financial warriors” against Iran by The Wall Street Journal's Jay Solomon in his 2016 book The Iran Wars. Politico magazine featured Mr. Dubowitz as one of Washington’s leading policy experts challenging Iran’s illicit behavior, observing that he is “...constantly thinking up—and promoting—new ways to squeeze the regime...”
Mr. Dubowitz has advised the Obama and Bush administrations and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and testified more than twenty times before the U.S. Congress and foreign legislatures.
A former venture capitalist and technology executive, Mark heads FDD’s Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance and is the author or co-author of over twenty studies on economic sanctions and Iran's nuclear program. He is widely published and cited in U.S. and international media. He teaches courses on sanctions and international negotiations at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, where he is a senior fellow.
Mark has a master’s degree in international public policy from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and law and MBA degrees from the University of Toronto.
Raised in Toronto, he is a proud American citizen, and has lived in Washington, D.C.
Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security
Peter Harrell is an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, where he focuses on the intersection of economics and national security. Research interests include economic statecraft, sanctions and energy.
From 2012-2014, Mr. Harrell served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. In that role, Harrell was instrumental in developing the international sanctions against Iran, Russia, and Syria, and in the easing of sanctions on Myanmar. He also played a leading role in the U.S. government’s efforts to counter terrorist financing, including work to combat the financing of the Islamic State (ISIL).
Mr. Harrell served on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff from March 2009 to June 2012, where he played a leading role in developing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s economic statecraft agenda. He also worked on a variety of other trade and economic issues, with a particular interest in Asia, and authored and edited sections of the State Department’s first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR).
Before joining the State Department, Mr. Harrell served on President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. He previously worked as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., and is the author of one book, Rwanda’s Gamble: Gacaca and a New Model of Transitional Justice. Mr. Harrell is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and holds a J.D. from the Yale Law School. He is originally from Atlanta, Georgia.
Clinical Professor of Law, Emory Law School
As Director of the International Humanitarian Law Clinic, Laurie Blank teaches international humanitarian law and works directly with students to provide assistance to international tribunals, non-governmental organizations, and law firms around the world on cutting-edge issues in humanitarian law and human rights. Professor Blank is the co-author of International Law and Armed Conflict: Fundamental Principles and Contemporary Challenges in the Law of War, a casebook on the law of war (with G. Noone, Aspen Publishing 2013). She is also the co-director of a multi-year project on military training programs in the law of war and the co-author of Law of War Training: Resources for Military and Civilian Leaders (USIP 2008, with G. Noone, second edition 2013). In addition, she is the series editor of the ICRC’s teaching supplements on IHL, a member of the American Bar Association’s Advisory Committee to the Standing Committee on Law and National Security, and a member of the Public Interest Law and Policy Group’s High Level Working Group on Piracy. Before coming to Emory, Professor Blank was a program officer in the Rule of Law Program at the United States Institute of Peace. At USIP, she directed the Experts’ Working Group on International Humanitarian Law, in particular a multi-year project focusing on New Actors in the Implementation and Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law.
She is the author of numerous articles and opinion pieces on topics in international humanitarian law, including, most recently, "Extending Positive Identification from People to Places: Terrorism, Armed Conflict and the Identification of Military Objectives" (Utah Law Review); "Losing the Forest for the Trees: Syria, Law and the Pragmatics of Conflict Recognition" (Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law); "Targeted Strikes: The Consequences of Blurring the Armed Conflict and Self-Defense Justifications" (William Mitchell Law Review); "After Top Gun: How Drone Strikes Impact the Law of War" (University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law); "A Square Peg in a Round Hole: Stretching Law of War Detention Too Far" (Rutgers Law Review); "Defining the Battlefield in Contemporary Conflict and Counterterrorism: Understanding the Parameters of the Zone of Combat" (Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law); and "The Application of IHL in the Goldstone Report: A Critical Commentary" (Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law).
The Siege of Aleppo and War Crimes - Podcast
Laurie R. Blank
For months, Syrian and Russian warplanes have bombed Aleppo, killing and wounding residents. Russian officials have referred...
The Siege of Aleppo and War Crimes
Joint Employment Update - Podcast
Ronald E. Meisburg
Ronald Meisburg, former National Labor Relations Board Member and General Counsel, joined us to discuss...
JCPOA: One Year in Review - Podcast
Mark Dubowitz, Peter Harrell
After one year of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action assessments and critiques, have American security...