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Counterterrorism chief: secrecy vital for national security

National Counterterrorism Director argues oversight best pursued behind scenes

Michael Leiter’s current role – Director of the National Counterterrorism Center – puts him in a position to know quite a bit about the world, and during a visit to HLS, he led a discussion on the security situations of regions ranging from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen and even to the potential for domestic Islamist terrorism in the U.S. Controversially, Leiter also argued that oversight for national security was best pursued behind the scenes rather than in public. Full story

We, the People of Europe

How the Lisbon Treaty makes the EU more democratic

Today, after the Czech Republic's highest court failed to find any grounds on which it was unconstitutional, Czech President Václav Klaus finally signed the Lisbon Treaty. The debate on the treaty's contents, however, is far from over: many claim it is is anti-democratic. But these arguments are misleading: they are based on a wrong conceptual approach to democracy in the EU's unique post- and transnational context. Full story

Theatre: A.R.T.'s "Sleep No More" is surreal, sexy, and violent

“Sleep No More,” a coproduction of the British theater troupe Punchdrunk and the American Repertory Theater, is part Macbeth and part Hitchcock, but one needn’t need to be familiar with either to be taken by the experience, as KAN YAN found when he joined the audience, wearing white masks and following actors through the halls and classrooms of the Old Lincoln School in Brookline. Full story

Travel: As winter approaches, Austria's Alps beckon

True, after a long and dreary December some sun-worshipping law students might prefer to opt for a warm and ‘beachy’ location for their winter holidays. But selecting on the basis of the quality of sun, sand and sangria is a much too easy way out of the difficult question how to best spend your winter holidays. Austria, which recently made Forbes' list of best retirement destinations, also offers benefits for law students looking for a relaxing winter. Full story

NADER as NOVELIST

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"Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!"

In latest book, perennial presidential candidate answers Ayn Rand

In his latest return to Harvard Law School, consumer advocate and perennial presidential candidate Ralph Nader '58 attacked the Obama administration's too-timid taming of Wall Street, tore into its unwillingness to investigate abuses of power under Bush and Cheney, argued against law schools' narrow curricular emphases. He also presented his latest book, a "work of utopian fiction" called "Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!", in which billionaires unite to solve America's social ills. Nader said he had come to the conclusion that social action on the part of plutocrats may, in fact, be the best way forward. Full story

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Finn Caspersen took own life under mysterious circumstances

What could an heir to a billion dollar fortune, privileged with an education at Harvard Law School, want most in life? It may remain a perpetual mystery why a man who appeared to have everything – wealth, a family, social notoriety, and a generous philanthropic nature – would decide to end it all. The New York Times has indicated that Caspersen may have been the subject of a Federal investigation. Full story

Harvard Law Record, V. 129 No. 4, Nov. 5, 2009