The Reiss Center’s work begins at home, studying how the United States orders and engages in the practice of national security. From classic questions of separation of powers and war-making authorities, to current developments in the national security bureaucracy, to systemic vulnerabilities at the intersection of national security and democracy, the Reiss Center works to identify pragmatic and principled solutions to the most salient issues facing practitioners today.

The Reiss Center examines emerging issues in the use of force, including in the counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and nation-state contexts. We study domestic legal and policy trends, challenges and opportunities stemming from bilateral and multilateral security cooperation, and questions that arise as technological advances change the nature of warfare and adversaries increasingly employ tactics below the threshold of force.

National security law and policy are not created in a vacuum; their substance is shaped by a larger framework of world events, domestic and international law, and evolving norms and behaviors. The Reiss Center leverages the global mission and resources of NYU to promote an understanding of broader trends as they relate to national security law and practice—including increasing strategic competition and strained alliances; innovative and disruptive technologies; rising authoritarianism and nationalism; and challenges to the rules-based order and the nature of rule-making itself.