The Public International and Criminal Law Committee of the International Law Section

In Co-sponsorship with the Administrative Law and Agency Practice Section

and the American Society of International Law

Presents a Luncheon Program

The Obama Administration and International Law and Policy: State Department Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh Speaks

Where is the Obama Administration headed in the area of foreign relations and what is its stand on key international law issues?  Harold Hongju Koh, who as Legal Adviser to the Department of State is the U.S. Government's most senior attorney on matters of international law, will share his perspective on those questions at this program.  As Legal Adviser, Mr. Koh manages an office of more than 170 lawyers advising the Secretary of State, the White House, and other U.S. Government departments and agencies, on the wide scope of domestic and international law matters affecting U.S. foreign relations. He will discuss the challenges facing the Obama Administration in a variety of areas and the progress the Administration has made through strategic and practical steps at home and abroad.  He also will provide insights into how the Administration envisages its role in fostering improved U.S. foreign relations in the years ahead, including through support for the rule of law.  

John B. Bellinger III, who served as the State Department Legal Adviser from 2005 to 2009 under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and is now a partner in the international and national security practices at Arnold & Porter and an Adjunct Senior Fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations, will offer comments from the perspective of a previous Legal Adviser.