Matthew C. Waxman

Adjunct Senior Fellow for Law and Foreign Policy

Browse My Work
Profile picture

The President’s Inbox

The Laws of War, With Matthew Waxman

November 3, 2023
An Israeli armored personnel carrier near the Gaza-Israel border on October 31, 2023.

Expert Bio

Matthew C. Waxman is adjunct senior fellow for law and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also the Liviu Librescu Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, where he directs the National Security Law program, and he previously served as co-chair of the Cybersecurity Center at Columbia University’s Data Science Institute. 

Waxman previously served at the U.S. Department of State as principal deputy director of policy planning. His prior government appointments included deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, director for contingency planning and international justice at the National Security Council, and executive assistant to the national security advisor. He is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, and studied international relations as a Fulbright Scholar in the United Kingdom. After law school, he served as law clerk to Supreme Court justice David H. Souter and U.S. Court of Appeals judge Joel M. Flaum.

affiliations

  • Columbia Law School/Columbia University, Liviu Librescu Professor of Law
  • Academic Exchange, executive committee member
  • Kibu, Inc., advisor
  • Skydio, advisor
  • WestExec Advisors, senior advisor
  • West Point Lieber Institute for Law & Land Warfare, senior fellow

Media Inquiries

For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
Clear All
Regions
Topics
Type

Explore More on International Law

COVID-19

Is It a Crime to Mishandle a Public Health Response?
The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to spark a wave of new laws intended to hold governments and businesses accountable for their public health responses during outbreaks.

Article by David J. Scheffer April 22, 2020

Immigration and Migration

How Should the World Respond to the Coming Wave of Climate Migrants?
Nations should use existing international institutions, instruments, and laws to protect and assist vulnerable populations, while mobilizing foreign aid to help communities in the developing world absorb the coming wave of environmental migrants.

Blog Post by Stewart M. Patrick March 16, 2020 The Internationalist

Myanmar

Why the ICJ Is Trying to Protect Myanmar’s Rohingya
The International Court of Justice issued an important decision aimed at protecting Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority, but its impact is unclear.

Article by David J. Scheffer January 24, 2020

Top Stories on CFR

Election 2024

Election 2024: Does Donald Trump’s Conviction Doom His Chances to Become President Again?
Each Friday, I look at what the presidential contenders are saying about foreign policy. This Week: Trump’s conviction on thirty-four felony counts takes the U.S. presidential election into uncharted waters.

Blog Post by James M. Lindsay May 31, 2024 The Water's Edge

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

Does NATO Have a Role in Asia?
The transatlantic alliance has begun to connect its traditional security interests in Europe with the geopolitical dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region, including tensions between China and Taiwan.

Expert Brief by David Sacks May 30, 2024 Asia Program

Mexico

Mexico’s Presidential Election, With Andrés Rozental

Podcast
Andrés Rozental, a distinguished retired Mexican diplomat, president of Rozental & Asociados, and the founding president of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the dynamics of Mexico’s upcoming election and its consequences for the Mexican people as well as for U.S.-Mexico relations.

Podcast with James M. Lindsay and Andrés Rozental May 28, 2024 The President’s Inbox