Tess Bridgeman

Dr. Tess Bridgeman is Co-Editor-in-Chief at Just Security and Senior Fellow and Visiting Scholar at NYU Law School’s Reiss Center on Law and Security, where she created the War Powers Resolution Reporting Project. During the Obama administration, Bridgeman served as Special Assistant to the President, Associate Counsel to the President, and Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council (NSC), where she provided legal advice on a broad range of issues relating to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

Bridgeman previously served in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser, where she was Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser and, prior to that role, served as an Attorney Adviser in the Office of Political-Military Affairs. Bridgeman clerked for Judge Thomas L. Ambro of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and, earlier in her career, worked as a consultant for the World Bank Inspection Panel and co-founded a food security and community development organization in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Bridgeman has a D.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar; a J.D. from NYU Law School, magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, which she attended as a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar, Institute for International Law and Justice Scholar, and Harry S. Truman Scholar; and a B.A. with University Distinction and Departmental Honors from Stanford University. She has taught cyber law and policy at Stanford University and lectures on national security law at Berkeley Law. She has previously chaired the Strategic Initiatives Committee of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and serves on the Board of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. 

You can find some of her recent publications, podcasts, congressional testimony, and online articles here:

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

• (Forthcoming book chapter), “The Vanishing ‘Tipping Point’ and the Problem of Perpetual War” in Perpetual War and International Law: Legacies of the War on Terror (Oxford University Press)
• Timeline of Int’l Crim Court Arrest Warrants for Gaza War: What Comes Next and How We Got Here, Just Security, (May 20, 2024) (with Rebecca Hamilton and Ryan Goodman)
• Expert Guidance: Law of Armed Conflict in the Israel-Hamas War, Just Security, Oct. 17, 2023 (with Ryan Goodman and Michael Meier)
• Why “Associated Forces” Should be Kept Out of Any New AUMF, Just Security, Sept. 26, 2023
• Tit-for-Tat Hostilities In Syria: War Powers and International Law Implications, Just Security, Sept. 8, 2022 (with Brian Finucane)
• In Support of Sunsets: Easy Yes Votes on AUMF Reform, Just Security, Jul. 13, 2022
• Still at War: The United States in Syria, Just Security, Apr. 29, 2022 (with Brianna Rosen) (and Introduction to Still at War Symposium, Mar. 24, 2022).
• The Al-Qurayshi Operation and Minimization of Civilian Casualties, Just Security, Feb. 3, 2022 (with Ryan Goodman)
• Questions on the Baghuz Strikes, Just Security, Nov. 15, 2021 (with Brianna Rosen, Luke Hartig, and Ryan Goodman)
• Paradigm Shift: The Consequences of Choosing a War Path, and Leaving It, Just Security, Sept. 11, 2021
• Expert Backgrounder: Recognition and the Taliban, Just Security, Aug. 17, 2021 (with Ryan Goodman)
• A Giant Step Forward for War Powers Reform, Just Security, July 20, 2021 (with Stephen Pomper)
• Biden’s Support of 2002 AUMF Repeal: The Start of a Long Overdue Conversation, Just Security, June 16, 2021
• Principles for a 2021 Authorization for Use of Military Force, Just Security, March 5, 2021 (with Ryan Goodman, Stephen Pomper, and Steve Vladeck)
• Trump’s War Powers Legacy and Questions for Biden, Just Security, Feb. 23, 2021
• Good Governance Reform Paper No. 14: War Powers Reform, Just Security, Oct. 30, 2020 (with Stephen Pomper)
• Coronavirus and the Role of Law in an Emergency,  NYU Law School Reiss Center on Law and Security, Novel Threats Series, Aug. 20, 2020.
• War Powers Resolution Reporting: Presidential Practice and the Use of Armed Forces Abroad, 1973-2019, Reiss Center on Law and Security (2020)
• The Soleimani Strike and War Powers, Just Security, Jan. 6, 2020.
• Co-Chair, Policy Roundtable: The War Powers Resolution and Co-Author of Introduction: The War Powers Resolution, Texas National Security Review, Nov. 14, 2019 (with Stephen Pomper).
• Now is the Time to Repeal the 2002 AUMF, Just Security, July 11, 2019.
• Top Experts Backgrounder: Military Action Against Iran and US Domestic Law, Just Security, June 21, 2019 (with Brian Egan).
• The Iran Nuclear Deal After Rouhani’s Announcement,  Just Security, May 9, 2019.
• Getting Past the Veto on Ending Yemen War: How Congress’ Next Moves Can Succeed, Just Security, May 3, 2019.
• The Viability of Data-Reliant Predictive Systems in Armed Conflict Detention, ICRC Humanitarian Law and Policy Blog, April 8, 2019.
• Congress, Saudi Arabia, and the Conflict in Yemen: Where do We Go from Here?, Just Security, Feb. 12, 2019.
• A Dangerous Bet on Recognition in Venezuela, Just Security, Jan. 25, 2019.
• U.S.-Russia Military Cooperation: Secretary Mattis Doesn’t Need Congress’ Permission, but Congress has Options to Assert Control,Just Security, July 23, 2018.
• In Defense of the ‘Conventional Account’ of the Jus ad Bellum, AJIL Unbound, 112, 102-107 (2018).
• Will the Trump Administration Claim Congress Authorized Force Against Iran? An Analysis of Existing Statutory Authority and New Proposals, Just Security, June 4, 2018.
• How to Ensure New Congressional War Authorization is Not a Blank Check, Just Security, April 20, 2018.
• When Does the Legal Basis for U.S. Forces in Syria Expire? The End Point of the ‘Unable or Unwilling’ Theory of Self-Defense, Just Security, Mar. 14, 2018.
• U.S. ‘Confronting’ Iran Inside Syria: Spoiling for an Unlawful Fight, Just Security, Dec. 18, 2017.
• Corker and Cotton’s False Promises Would Push Iran Towards Nuclearization, Foreign Policy, Oct. 30, 2017.
• How Congress Should Avoid taking the Bait if Trump Fails to Certify the Iran Nuclear Deal, Just Security, Oct. 10, 2017 (also published in Newsweek, Oct. 10, 2017).
• About that ‘Deconfliction Zone’ in Syria: Is the United States on Firm Domestic and International Legal Footing?, Just Security, June 15, 2017.
• Paris is a Binding Agreement: Here’s Why that Matters, Just Security, June 4, 2017.

CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY, SELECT LECTURES & PRESENTATIONS

• Panelist, The Supreme Court’s Presidential Immunity Case, the Threat to Democracy, and the Path Forward, Center for American Progress (with co-panelists Akhil Amar and Erwin Chemerinksy), Jul. 25, 2024.
• Moderator, Panel on 75th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, co-hosted by the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C., and ICRC (with Dr. Cordula Droege, Brig. General Robert Borcherding, and Amb. Sandra Lendenmann Winterberg), May 22, 2024.
• Moderator, Panel and Podcast, Toward a Goldilocks Deal on 702 Surveillance Reform, Convened by NYU Reiss Center on Law and Security and Just Security, Dec. 4, 2023.
• Panelist, “Gray Zone Conflict,” at U.S. Naval War College Stockton Center's 4th Annual Law of Armed Conflict Conference, "Russia-Ukraine: Full-Spectrum Conflict and the Law,” Dec. 14, 2022.
• Discussant, Roundtable on Sovereignty, at The Evolving Face of Cyber Conflict and International Law: A Futurespective, at AU Washington College of Law, in with the Lieber Institute, West Point, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence, June 15, 2022.
• Speaker, Global Engagement Series - 30 Days After the Invasion: Ways forward for the international order, Roundtable Co-Convened by the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and the European Society of International Law (ESIL), Mar. 22, 2022.
• Speaker, Ukraine War: International Legal Issues, UC Berkeley Law (Mar. 12, 2022).
• Speaker, Diplomacy, Strategy and Force: Managing Rising Tensions in Taiwan, NYU Reiss Center on Law and Security and the U.S.-Asia Law Institute, Nov. 17, 2021.
• Moderator, Atlantic Council, Future Foreign Policy Series: Congress and AUMF Repeal, with Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI-3) and Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-7), Atlantic Council, Sept. 16, 2021.
• Witness, Hearing before House Rules Committee on Article I: Reforming the War Powers Resolution for the 21st Century, March 23, 2021.
• Panelist, Discussion on the Updated Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention, live-streamed webinar, ASIL and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Nov. 10, 2020.
• Panelist, ASIL Annual Meeting, Emerging Technologies as a Source of Compliance with International Humanitarian Law, March 28, 2019.
• Panelist (with Lisa Monaco, Profs. Ryan Goodman and Stephen Holmes), NYU Law Reiss Center on Law and Security Fall Conference, National Security and Shifting Geopolitics: Challenges at Home and Abroad, Oct. 22, 2018.
• Commencement Speaker, University of California Santa Cruz, College Nine (June 2018).
• Presentation, The Challenge of Election Hacking and (Dis)Information Campaigns, Conflict Scenarios in the Cyber Age Workshop, Stanford CISAC & Hoover Institution, (2018).
• Guest Lecture, International and Domestic Law Challenges in Syria, Yale School of Law (2018).
• Guest Lecture, The Future of the Iran Nuclear Deal, Stanford Law School (2018).
• Presentation, Cyberspace and the Law of Armed Conflict, Transpacific Workshop on International Law and Armed Conflict, ICRC and U.S. Pacific Command, Pearl Harbor, Feb. 15, 2018.

SELECT PODCASTS

• A New Guide to International Law and Military Activities in Outer Space, The Just Security Podcast, September 27, 2024.
• War and What We Make of It (interview with Chief ICRC Legal Officer Dr. Cordula Droege), The Just Security Podcast, Aug 2, 2024.
• A Request for ICC Arrest Warrants and the Israel-Hamas War, The Just Security Podcast, May 20, 2024.
• The Starvation War Crime in Sudan and Gaza,  The Just Security Podcast, Apr. 4, 2024
• The Law of Armed Conflict in the Israel-Hamas War,International Law Behind the Headlines Podcast, Episode 42, American Society for International Law, Dec. 14, 2023.
• An Insider View of the Defense Department with Colin Kahl, The Just Security Podcast, Oct. 6, 2023
• FISA Section 702 Reauthorization, The Just Security Podcast, May 2023.
• A Year in Russia’s War Against Ukraine: Forging a U.S. Response, A special episode of The Just Security Podcast, co-hosted by the Reiss Center on Law and Security, Feb. 24, 2023 (with Rose Gottemoeller and Dan Baer).
• Snapback at the Security Council, International Law Behind the Headlines Podcast, Episode 22, American Society for International Law, Sept. 2020.
• How Does International Law Get Incorporated into Presidential Decision-Making?, International Law Behind the Headlines Podcast, Episode 4, American Society for International Law, 2019.
• Taking Stock on Syria, The Lawfare Podcast (with Dan Byman), April 13, 2018.
• Decertifying Without Cause, Nukes of Hazard Podcast, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Oct. 17, 2017.