Matthew Waxman is an American law professor and author who held several positions during the George W. Bush administration.

Waxman was a Fulbright Scholar when he studied International Relations

International relations

International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

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Waxman is currently a Fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.

Government service

Waxman was described as working within the Bush administration, unsuccessfully, to have U.S. captives treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions

Geneva Conventions

The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...

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Waxman served under Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...

 in the National Security Council

United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...

 in 2001-2003. He served as the first Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs

The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs is a political appointment created by United States President George W. Bush. The appointee has responsibility for captives apprehended during the "war on terror"....

 in 2004 and 2005. Waxman moved from the Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 to the Department of State

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

 in December 2005, serving there under Condoleezza Rice until 2007.

Academic career

Waxman accepted a position as a Professor of Law at Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...

 in 2007.

Criticism of the Obama Presidency's policy on captives

On August 28, 2010, Waxman was quoted by Charlie Savage

Charlie Savage

Charlie Savage is a newspaper reporter in Washington, D.C., with the New York Times, which he joined in May 2008. In 2007, when employed by the Boston Globe, he was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on the issue of Presidential Signing Statements, specifically the use...

 on the front page of the New York Times criticizing the Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 Presidency for choosing to prosecute Canadian Omar Khadr

Omar Khadr

Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian child soldier and one of the juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was convicted of five charges under the United States Military Commissions Act of 2009 including murder in violation of the law of war and providing material support for terrorism,...

who was only 15 years old when he was captured.