National Security Law Today

Recorded live on September 29th at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C., this episode brings together host Elisa Poteat, Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, USAF (Ret.), former DCSA Director David Cattler, and Professor Gary Corn to explore this changing landscape. Drawing on their experience in military AI, intelligence, and national security law, the speakers offer perspectives on what these advances mean for defense and military opera...

Elisa Poteat and Standing Committee Chair Glenn Gerstell preview the 36th Annual Review of National Security Law CLE Conference, AI and Disruptive Technologies: Transforming National Security and the Law. The conference will feature top experts from legal and policy fields discussing AI safety, geopolitical competition, emerging warfare, quantum computing, election security, and more. With keynote conversations, networking opportun...

The U.S. and China are both racing to advance artificial intelligence, but they may not be running the same race. Graham Webster, research scholar at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, joins Elisa Poteat to examine China’s rapidly evolving AI ecosystem, from open-weight reasoning models and semiconductor constraints to Beijing’s approach to regulation and risk. They explore wh...

What happens when technological change begins moving faster than the institutions designed to govern it? This week, Elisa is joined by Sam Hammond, Director of Artificial Intelligence Policy and Chief Economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, to examine AI as a potentially transformative technological regime change, from autonomous agents and scientific discovery to regulatory disruption, workforce displacement, and new ...

Can private companies help the U.S. government fight cybercrime without creating new national security risks of their own? Michael McLaughlin, author of Battlefield Cyber, joins Elisa to examine the new Presidential Memorandum, Expanding Capabilities to Combat Transnational Cyber-Enabled Crime, and what it could mean for the private sector’s role in cyber surveillance and cyber effects operations against transnational crimina...

This week, Elisa opens with a roundup of the latest national security news, including developments in Ukraine and Iran, emerging AI and biosecurity concerns, quantum readiness, and growing competition between U.S. and Chinese AI models. From there, the episode returns to a recent conversation between Elisa and former NSA Cybersecurity Director Rob Joyce, offering a broader perspective on how the national security community is adapt...

Should lawmakers move quickly to regulate AI, or continue giving innovation room to run? This week, Elisa is joined by Jamil Jaffer, Founder and Executive Director of the National Security Institute at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, to examine the evolving debate over AI regulation in the United States. Together, they discuss where targeted safeguards may be necessary, the national security risks posed by...

As artificial intelligence reshapes the economy, what happens when fewer workers are earning wages and contributing to the tax base? This week, Elisa is joined by Lee Lockwood, an economics professor at the University of Virginia, to examine the possibility of a modern “Engels’ Pause,” a prolonged period in which technological progress increases productivity and wealth without improving conditions for workers. Tog...

In this news roundup, Elisa examines how emerging technologies, economic competition, and shifting methods of warfare are reshaping the national security landscape. She covers the Pentagon’s investment in low-cost drones, Ukraine’s continued use of unmanned systems against Russia, China’s dominance of critical minerals and AI development, the growing use of cryptocurrency to evade sanctions, and renewed debates ov...

In Part 2 of their conversation, Elisa and Fordham Law Professor Doni Bloomfield examine whether the modern export-control system is equipped to govern emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing, and advanced semiconductors. Together, they explore trade-secret theft, intellectual property rights, restrictions on scientific research, and the challenge of protecting national security without stifling innovation.

Doni Bloomfield ...

Export controls have long determined which American technologies can cross borders—and which must remain secret. In Part 1 of this two-part series, Elisa is joined by Professor Doni Bloomfield to trace the evolution of U.S. export controls from World War I through the Cold War, examining how wartime censorship, patent secrecy, atomic technology, semiconductors, and cryptography shaped the modern regulatory system. Together, t...

AI, quantum computing, and cyber capabilities are redefining what national security threats look like. This week, Elisa is joined by Rob Joyce, former Director of the NSA’s Cybersecurity Directorate, for a conversation on how emerging technologies are altering both the threat landscape and the national security response. Drawing on Joyce’s 34-year career at the National Security Agency, the episode explores AI-enabled c...

The Department of Justice’s National Security Division marks 20 years at the center of the federal government’s national security mission. This week, we're featuring a recent live discussion hosted by the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security, “DOJ National Security Division 20th Year Anniversary: A Discussion with Former Assistant Attorneys General for National Security.” Moderated by Kelli An...

The new Iran memorandum is raising old questions about war powers, diplomacy, and congressional oversight. This week, Elisa is joined by Brian Egan, current partner at Skadden and former State Department Legal Adviser and Deputy White House Counsel, to examine the Trump administration’s 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran and how it compares to the JCPOA. Together, they break down what legal force an MOU may carry,...

FISA 702 is back at the center of the national security debate. This week, Elisa is joined by Glenn Gerstell, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former General Counsel of the National Security Agency, to break down what FISA Section 702 does, what happened when it lapsed, and what could be at stake if Congress fails to act. Later, Elisa walks through several developments shaping the national se...

A new AI executive order is raising big questions about innovation, security, and government oversight. This week, Elisa speaks with Josh Geltzer, Partner at WilmerHale and former Deputy White House Counsel and Legal Advisor to the National Security Council, about the Trump administration’s new framework for securing frontier AI models before they reach the public. Together, they explore what voluntary early access could mean...

Project Maven stands as one of the earliest and most consequential efforts to bring AI into military operations. This week, Elisa sits down with Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, former Director of the Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and founding Director of Project Maven, to explore how AI entered the battlefield and why it became a strategic priority for the U.S. military. Together, they examine the devel...

This week, we revisit Elisa’s conversation with Margaret Hu, Professor of Law at William & Mary, and Davi Ottenheimer, Vice President of Trust and Digital Ethics at Inrupt, to examine the vulnerabilities embedded in our digital footprints. Together, they discuss microtargeting, the exploitation of personal data, and how a stronger federal data privacy framework could better protect individuals, institutions, and public tr...

AI and the modern information ecosystem are making reality harder to verify, and easier to weaponize. This week, Elisa Poteat is joined by Gary Corn, Program Director and Adjunct Professor of Technology, Law and Security at American University Washington College of Law, to discuss his recent article, “Cognitive Warfare: Generative AI, False Realities, and International Humanitarian Law.” Together, they explore how cogni...