2021 LENS Conference

2020 LENS Poster


Duke Law's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security (LENS) will hold the 26th Annual National Security Law Conference on February 25–27, 2021

Registration for the 26th Annual LENS Conference is open now. Please click here to find the link to register for the webinar.

Conference Schedule

(All times EST)

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Duke Law School, Webinar 
12:30 p.m.

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Warfighting: A Dialogue

Sponsored by Duke's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security (LENS) 
 

Panelists:

Prof. Rebecca Crootof, University of Richmond School of Law; member, Center for New American Security's Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and National Security 

BG Pat Huston, USA, JAGC, Assistant Judge Advocate General for Military Law and Operations

Moderator: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director, Duke Law School

Friday, February 26, 2021

Duke Law School, Webinar

Registration is required.
8:10 a.m. Webinar Login Available
8:15 a.m.

Administrative Notes:

Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director, Duke Law School
8:20 a.m.

Welcome: Dean Kerry Abrams, James B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke Dean of the School of Law and Professor of Law
8:30 a.m.

Current Issues in Civil-Military Relations
 

Panelists: 

Prof. Rosa Brooks, Assoc. Dean and Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and Policy, Georgetown Law

Gen. Martin Dempsey, USA (Ret.), former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Rubenstein Fellow, Duke University

Dr. Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute 

Prof. Peter Feaver, Director of the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University

Moderator: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director, Duke Law School
9:50 a.m. Break 
10:00 a.m.

Conference Leadership Address: A Conversation with General Jim Mattis
 

Speaker: Gen. Jim Mattis, USMC (Ret.), former Secretary of Defense

Discussant: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director, Duke Law School 
11:15 a.m. Break 
11:25 a.m. Shortburst: Law as a Battlefield: The Global Escalation of Lawfare
  Speaker: Prof. Jill Goldenziel, International Law and International Relations, Marine Corps University; Affiliated Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania's Fox Leadership International Program
12:10 p.m. Shortburst: The Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty: A Legal Analysis
  Speaker: Ms. Alexandra Perina, Assistant Legal Adviser for Nonproliferation and Arms Control, U.S. Department of State
12:50 p.m. Break
1:00 p.m.

Working Lunch: Current Issues in the Challenge of China
 

Speaker: Mr. Dean Cheng, Senior Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center, Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy

Discussant: Prof. Shane Stansbury, Duke Law School
1:50 p.m. Break
2:00 p.m. A National Security Discussion with Ms. Michèle Flournoy
 

Speaker: Ms. Michèle Flournoy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, and former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Discussant: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director, Duke Law School 
3:00 p.m. Break
3:10 p.m. National Security and the Challenges of 'Deep Fakes'
 

Speaker: Ms. Erin Wirtanen, Chief Counsel for the Center for Cyber Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency 

Discussant: Prof. Shane Stansbury, Duke Law School
3:50 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m.

Keynote Address 
 

Speaker: General CQ Brown, USAF; Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force 

Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director, Duke Law School
5:00 p.m. Day one concludes 

Saturday, February 27, 2021

Duke Law School, Webinar
8:25 a.m. Webinar Login Available
8:30 a.m. Current Issues of Cybersecurity
 

Panelists:

Mr. Paul Rozenzweig, founder of Red Branch Consulting PLLC, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, and also the former Acting Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, in the Department of Homeland Security; Senior Fellow, R Street Institute, Washington, D.C. 

Prof. Gary Corn, Colonel, USA (Ret.). former staff judge advocate (General Counsel) of U.S. Cyber Command, currently Director of the Tech, Law & Security Program at American University's Washington College of Law; Senior Fellow in Cybersecurity & Emerging Threats at the R Street Institute, Washington, D.C.

Prof. David Hoffman, Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy and Associate General Counsel at Intel Corporation

Moderator: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director, Duke Law School
9:30 a.m. Break
9:40 a.m. Developments in Drones and Autonomous Systems
 

Speaker: Dr. Missy Cummings, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University; former U.S. Navy F-18 Fighter Pilot

Discussant: Col. Dawn Zoldi, USAF (Ret.), Adjunct Prof., Colorado State University - Pueblo; founder and CEO of P3 Tech Consulting
10:20 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. Shortbursts: Law of War Development 
 

Panelists: 

Landmine Policy: Maj. Heather Tregle, USA, JAGC, Military Professor of International Law, Stockton Center for International Law

Civilian Casualty Aversion: Prof. Geoff Corn, The Presidential Research Professor of Law, South Texas College of Law

Limits of the Law of War: Prof. Adam Oler, Department of Security Studies, the National War College

Ending War: Prof. Laurie Blank, Director of the International Humanitarian Law Clinic, Emory Law

Moderator: LTC Amy Nieman, USA, Chief, Strategic Engagements Office of The Judge Advocate General, National Security Law Division
11:50 a.m. Break
12:00 p.m. Ethics and the National Security Law Practitioner
 

Speakers:

Ms. Patricia Lee Refo, President of the American Bar Association; Partner, Snell & Wilmer, Phoenix, Arizona

Ms. Judith A. Miller, Former Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Member of the Board of Directors, Bectel Group; Member, Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age

Mr. Lucian T. Pera, Partner, Adams& Reese LLP, Memphis Tennessee; Former Chair, ABA Center for Professional Responsibility

Discussant: Prof. Shane Stansbury, Duke Law School 
1:00 p.m. Closing Remarks 
 

Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director, Duke Law

Prof. Shane Stansbury, Duke Law School 
1:05 p.m. Conference concludes
   

The conference is produced by the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke Law School

Registration

Registration for the webinar can be found here. Please contact Isabel Fox at isabel.fox@law.duke.edu with any questions. 

Conference Logistics

This year's conference will be hosted virtually as a Zoom Webinar. Upon registration, an email containing the details on how to connect will be sent, as well as a reminder email the day before the conference begins.

Due to the virtual platform, we are able to accommodate a large number of attendees, however there is still a maximum capacity. If you register and find that you no longer plan to attend, please email lensmailbox@law.duke.edu and let us know so we can open your space up to others. 

Give Back

There is no registration fee for this year's conference, but we hope you'll chose to donate now to the Center's work in education and discussion of national security and legal issues.

Ethics. Knowledge. Critical Thinking. Leadership. Those are the tools of power -- the fuel for the future.

Help strengthen our future leaders so they can keep America strong. Give today! We thank you! Your donation is tax-deductible as allowed by law. 

Webinar Etiquette

This year's LENS Conference will look different than past years, but we have done all we can to ensure it will be just as informative and enjoyable.

To limit distractions from our speakers, provide a quality experience, and to serve as a security measure, attendees will be unable to turn on their video or unmute themselves throughout the Zoom webinar. Attendees can use the Q&A function, located at the bottom of the screen, to ask questions throughout the program. We will try to get to as many of these questions as time permits. This year's conference will likely be recorded, but attendee names will not be made public with the recording.

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Point of Contact

Isabel Fox
lensmailbox@law.duke.edu
(919) 613-8545
 

https://sites.duke.edu/lawfire/