Professor Koplow specializes in the areas of public international law and national security law. He joined the Georgetown Law faculty in 1981. His principal courses have been International Law I (the introductory survey of public international law topics), a seminar in the area of arms control, non-proliferation and terrorism, and the pro-seminar for LLM students in national security law. In addition, he has directed a clinic, the Center for Applied Legal Studies, in which students provide pro bono representation to refugees who seek asylum in the United States because of persecution in their homelands. His government service has included stints as Special Counsel for Arms Control to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense (2009-2011); as Deputy General Counsel for International Affairs at the Department of Defense (1997-1999); and as Attorney-Advisor and Special Assistant to the Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1978-1981). He is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School and a Rhodes Scholar. Most of his scholarly writing concentrates on the intersection between international law and U.S. constitutional law, especially in the areas of arms control and national security and treaty negotiation and implementation.

Scholarship

Forthcoming Works - Journal Articles & Working Papers

David Koplow, Three Things I Hate About Large Constellations of Small Satellites (working paper). [SSRN]

Contributions to Law Reviews and Other Scholarly Journals

David A. Koplow, Blinded by the Light: Resolving the Conflict Between Satellite Megaconstellations and Astronomy, 57 Vand. J. Transnat’l L. 219-299 (2024). [W] [L]
David A. Koplow, Reverse Distinction: A U.S. Violation of the Law of Armed Conflict in Space, 13 Harv. Nat’l Sec. J. 25-120 (2022).
[WWW] [W] [L] [SSRN]
David A. Koplow, Un-Repeal: Reviving the Arms Control Impact Statements, 11 Mich. J. Envtl. & Admin. L. 257-314 (2022). [WWW] [HEIN] [W] [L]
James E. Goodby & David A. Koplow, An Ambitious Arms Control Agenda Requires a New Organization Equal to the Task, 77 Bull. Atomic Scientists 5-10 (2021).