Rosa Brooks
Encyclopedia
Rosa Brooks is a law
professor
at the Georgetown University Law Center
. From April 2009 to June 2011, she served as Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
, Michele Flournoy
, and in May 2010 she also became http://washingtonindependent.com/86481/pentagon-creates-office-to-bolster-international-legitimacy Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and then Special Coordinator for Rule of Law and Humanitarian Policy, running a new Pentagon office dedicated to those issues. Brooks is a 2012 Bernard L. Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation
as of Sept. 1, 2011. Brooks wrote a weekly and sometimes bi-weekly column for the Los Angeles Times
from 2005 to 2009, and is known as an expert on national security, international law and human rights issues. At the Pentagon
her portfolio included both rule of law and human rights issues and global engagement, strategic communication, and she received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service
for her work.
In 1991 Brooks earned a Bachelor of Arts
from Harvard University
, where she studied history and literature; while an undergraduate at Harvard, Brooks served as president of the Phillips Brooks House Association
. At Oxford University she was awarded a Master of Studies
degree in social anthropology
in 1993, and was a Marshall Scholar. In 1996 she completed her studies at Yale Law School
, which conferred upon her the title of Juris Doctor
.
Brooks' work history has included previous government service as a senior adviser to Assistant Secretary Harold Hongju Koh
at the U.S. Department of State, five years as an associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Law
, and a stint as Special Counsel to the President at the Open Society Institute
, George Soros
' philanthropic foundation. She is the former director of Yale Law School's human rights program, and she has taught at both Yale and at Harvard. She has also been a consultant for Human Rights Watch
, a fellow at he Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard, a board member of Amnesty International USA
, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations
, and a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law
.
In 2004 she served as a foreign policy advisor to the Kerry-Edwards campaign
, and she was a supporter of Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. She has been a board member of the National Security Network
, a member of the World Economic Forum
's Global Agenda Council on Fragile States, and a member of the steering committee of the White Oak Foreign Policy Leaders Project. She has traveled and worked around the world, including in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Indonesia, China, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Russia.
Brooks' scholarly work has focused on terrorism
and rule of law
issues, international law
, human rights
, law of war
, and failed state
s. Along with Jane Stromseth and David Wippman, Brooks coauthored Can Might Make Rights? Building the Rule of Law After Military Interventions (2006), a book which helped shape the United States Army
's praxis of rule of law. Brooks is also the author of numerous scholarly articles published in law reviews.
As a popular and influential columnist in addition to a scholar, her byline has appeared in publications all over the world, ranging from Harper's Magazine
to the Washington Post, and in 2005 she began a weekly op-ed
column
for the Los Angeles Times
. Her writings focused on foreign policy, human rights, and national security issues, and occasionally spanned other topics, including economics and culture. to a humorous take on parenting. (Brooks has two young children). Brooks retired the column upon her appointment to the United States Department of Defense
.
Brooks has been a frequent guest and panelist on MSNBC (The Rachel Maddow Show, Race for the White House, Countdown, and Tucker), a commentator on Bloggingheads.tv
http://www.bloggingheads.tv, and a blogger for Slate Magazine's XX Factor. She has also appeared several times on Fox's The O'Reilly Factor. In May 2007 she wrote a lighhearted column poking fun at O'Reilly's bluster. O'Reilly has periodically vilified and attacked her ever since, particular when she was appointed to an influential position at the Pentagon.
In her work as a columnist, Brooks has been recognized by liberals for her courage and outspokenness, and her remarks have at times generated backlash from the political right.When she was appointed by Barack Obama to a Pentagon advisory position in April 2009, conservatives attacked her. Conservative commentators like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity labelled her one of the "Top Ten Most Dangerous Obama Czars." http://polijamblog.polijam.com/?p=7515/-/, while the Washington Times wrote an editorial denouncing her appointment. Her Pentagon and military colleagues came to her defense, and the attacks gradually died down as she established a reputation for principled but pragmatic leadership, especially in complex areas such as information operations.
Most of the initial conservative attacks focused on her criticism of Bush administration's use of so-called torture against suspected terror detainees. She was also critical of the decision to go to war in Iraq, though she has recently taken a view cautiously supporting a slow and phased withdrawal.
In 2007, she wrote that prior to 9/11, "most experts say... al-Qaida was little more than an obscure group of extremist thugs, well financed and intermittently lethal but relatively limited in their global and regional political pull. On 9/11, they got lucky. … Today, thanks to U.S. policies, Al-Qaida has become the vast global threat the administration imagined it to be in 2001. Our ham-handed detention and interrogation tactics and our ill-advised invasion of Iraq have alienated vast swathes of the Islamic world, fueling extremism and anti-Americanism. Today, Al Qaeda is no longer a single organization. Now it's a franchise, with new gangs of terrorists around the world proudly seizing the "Al Qaeda" affiliation."
She has also penned a 2006 column in which she wrote that President "Bush...authorized practices that even [former Attorney General] Gonzales predicted might be seen by 'future prosecutors' as violations of the War Crimes Act," and that "it's far too late for [Bush] to leave a legacy that won't be a source of shame to future generations."
She has been occasionally been a critic of some policies of the State of Israel. According to Brooks, "In the United States today, it just isn't possible to have a civil debate about Israel, because any serious criticism of its policies is instantly countered with charges of anti-Semitism."
Brooks has also been an advocate for increased taxpayer-funds for public media (such as National Public Radio and public and community broadcasting). In April 2009 she asserted that "Years of foolish policies have left us with a choice: We can bail out journalism, using tax dollars and granting [broadcast] licenses in ways that encourage robust and independent reporting and commentary, or we can watch, wringing our hands, as more and more top journalists are laid off."
As a supporter of sending more troops to Afghanistan and an advocate of a robust and well-funded counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism strategy, and as an occasionally sharp critic of prominent Democrats (including Hillary Clinton), Brooks has also sometimes annoyed the political left.
In December 2008, for instance, she warned "Democrats still basking in the reflected glory of Obama's win" that "Idiocy and greed aren't just for Republicans. For every Larry Craig, there's an Eliot Spitzer; for every Ted Stevens, there's a Rod Blagojevich.... [I]t's precisely when a party achieves power that its members need to start worrying the most about idiocy and greed.... [P]ower really does corrupt. But illegal corruption isn't the only thing Democrats should be on guard against.... Members of political majorities succumb easily to smugness and complacency, to the conviction that explaining and justifying ideas is no longer necessary, to the temptation to dismiss critics as so many irrelevant cranks. "Groupthink" is mainly a disease of the powerful and complacent, not the fractious opposition."
On economics, Brooks is a progressive/liberal populist. She has skewered the Bush administration's alleged mishandling of the economy, argued for addressing the economic crisis with New Deal-style programs, and decried large bailouts for financial firms.
The daughter of best-selling author Barbara Ehrenreich
(Nickel and Dimed
) and psychologist John Ehrenreich, Brooks currently lives in Virginia with her family.
`
Law degree
A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C.. Established in 1870, the Law Center offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law...
. From April 2009 to June 2011, she served as Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense for all matters...
, Michele Flournoy
Michele Flournoy
Michèle Angelique Flournoy is Under Secretary of Defense for Policy of the United States. She was confirmed in the position by the U.S. Senate on February 9, 2009 and was at the time the highest-ranking woman to hold a post at the Pentagon in the facility's history. She founded and was named...
, and in May 2010 she also became http://washingtonindependent.com/86481/pentagon-creates-office-to-bolster-international-legitimacy Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and then Special Coordinator for Rule of Law and Humanitarian Policy, running a new Pentagon office dedicated to those issues. Brooks is a 2012 Bernard L. Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation
New America Foundation
The New America Foundation is a non-profit public policy institute and think tank with offices in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, CA. It was founded in 1999 by Ted Halstead, Sherle Schwenninger, Michael Lind and Walter Russell Mead....
as of Sept. 1, 2011. Brooks wrote a weekly and sometimes bi-weekly column for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
from 2005 to 2009, and is known as an expert on national security, international law and human rights issues. At the Pentagon
Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon is any five-sided polygon. A pentagon may be simple or self-intersecting. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagram is an example of a self-intersecting pentagon.- Regular pentagons :In a regular pentagon, all sides are equal in length and...
her portfolio included both rule of law and human rights issues and global engagement, strategic communication, and she received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service
Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service
The Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service is the second highest award presented by the Secretary of Defense to non-career Federal employees, private citizens, and foreign nationals for contributions, assistance, or support to Department of Defense functions that are extensive...
for her work.
In 1991 Brooks earned a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where she studied history and literature; while an undergraduate at Harvard, Brooks served as president of the Phillips Brooks House Association
Phillips Brooks House Association
Phillips Brooks House Association is a student-run, staff supported public service/social action organization at Harvard College providing a variety of services to the Greater Boston community...
. At Oxford University she was awarded a Master of Studies
Master of Studies
The Master of Studies is a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, The Australian National University and University of Dublin which typically requires both classroom study and the completion of a thesis...
degree in social anthropology
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
in 1993, and was a Marshall Scholar. In 1996 she completed her studies at Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
, which conferred upon her the title of Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
.
Brooks' work history has included previous government service as a senior adviser to Assistant Secretary Harold Hongju Koh
Harold Hongju Koh
Harold Hongju Koh is an Korean American lawyer and legal scholar. He currently serves as the Legal Adviser of the Department of State. He was nominated to his current position by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2009, and confirmed by the Senate on June 25, 2009.In public service, Koh...
at the U.S. Department of State, five years as an associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Law
University of Virginia School of Law
The University of Virginia School of Law was founded in Charlottesville in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as one of the original subjects taught at his "academical village," the University of Virginia. The law school maintains an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students in its initial degree program...
, and a stint as Special Counsel to the President at the Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
, George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
' philanthropic foundation. She is the former director of Yale Law School's human rights program, and she has taught at both Yale and at Harvard. She has also been a consultant for Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, a fellow at he Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard, a board member of Amnesty International USA
Amnesty International USA
Amnesty International USA is one of many country sections that make up Amnesty International worldwide.Amnesty International is an organization of more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in over 150 countries, with complete independence from government, corporate or national...
, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
, and a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law
American Society of International Law
The American Society of International Law is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational membership organization, based in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1906, and was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950...
.
In 2004 she served as a foreign policy advisor to the Kerry-Edwards campaign
John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004
The Presidential Campaign of John Kerry, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and the nominee of the Democratic Party challenged Republican incumbent President George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election on November 2, 2004. Ultimately, Kerry conceded defeat in the race in a telephone call to Bush...
, and she was a supporter of Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. She has been a board member of the National Security Network
National Security Network
The National Security Network is a non-profit foreign policy organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. that focuses on international relations, global affairs and national security...
, a member of the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
's Global Agenda Council on Fragile States, and a member of the steering committee of the White Oak Foreign Policy Leaders Project. She has traveled and worked around the world, including in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Indonesia, China, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Russia.
Brooks' scholarly work has focused on terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
issues, international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, law of war
Laws of war
The law of war is a body of law concerning acceptable justifications to engage in war and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct...
, and failed state
Failed state
The term failed state is often used by political commentators and journalists to describe a state perceived as having failed at some of the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government...
s. Along with Jane Stromseth and David Wippman, Brooks coauthored Can Might Make Rights? Building the Rule of Law After Military Interventions (2006), a book which helped shape the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
's praxis of rule of law. Brooks is also the author of numerous scholarly articles published in law reviews.
As a popular and influential columnist in addition to a scholar, her byline has appeared in publications all over the world, ranging from Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
to the Washington Post, and in 2005 she began a weekly op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
column
Column (newspaper)
A column is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Columns are written by columnists.What differentiates a column from other forms of journalism is that it meets each of the following criteria:...
for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
. Her writings focused on foreign policy, human rights, and national security issues, and occasionally spanned other topics, including economics and culture. to a humorous take on parenting. (Brooks has two young children). Brooks retired the column upon her appointment to the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
.
Brooks has been a frequent guest and panelist on MSNBC (The Rachel Maddow Show, Race for the White House, Countdown, and Tucker), a commentator on Bloggingheads.tv
Bloggingheads.tv
Bloggingheads.tv is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers...
http://www.bloggingheads.tv, and a blogger for Slate Magazine's XX Factor. She has also appeared several times on Fox's The O'Reilly Factor. In May 2007 she wrote a lighhearted column poking fun at O'Reilly's bluster. O'Reilly has periodically vilified and attacked her ever since, particular when she was appointed to an influential position at the Pentagon.
In her work as a columnist, Brooks has been recognized by liberals for her courage and outspokenness, and her remarks have at times generated backlash from the political right.When she was appointed by Barack Obama to a Pentagon advisory position in April 2009, conservatives attacked her. Conservative commentators like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity labelled her one of the "Top Ten Most Dangerous Obama Czars." http://polijamblog.polijam.com/?p=7515/-/, while the Washington Times wrote an editorial denouncing her appointment. Her Pentagon and military colleagues came to her defense, and the attacks gradually died down as she established a reputation for principled but pragmatic leadership, especially in complex areas such as information operations.
Most of the initial conservative attacks focused on her criticism of Bush administration's use of so-called torture against suspected terror detainees. She was also critical of the decision to go to war in Iraq, though she has recently taken a view cautiously supporting a slow and phased withdrawal.
In 2007, she wrote that prior to 9/11, "most experts say... al-Qaida was little more than an obscure group of extremist thugs, well financed and intermittently lethal but relatively limited in their global and regional political pull. On 9/11, they got lucky. … Today, thanks to U.S. policies, Al-Qaida has become the vast global threat the administration imagined it to be in 2001. Our ham-handed detention and interrogation tactics and our ill-advised invasion of Iraq have alienated vast swathes of the Islamic world, fueling extremism and anti-Americanism. Today, Al Qaeda is no longer a single organization. Now it's a franchise, with new gangs of terrorists around the world proudly seizing the "Al Qaeda" affiliation."
She has also penned a 2006 column in which she wrote that President "Bush...authorized practices that even [former Attorney General] Gonzales predicted might be seen by 'future prosecutors' as violations of the War Crimes Act," and that "it's far too late for [Bush] to leave a legacy that won't be a source of shame to future generations."
She has been occasionally been a critic of some policies of the State of Israel. According to Brooks, "In the United States today, it just isn't possible to have a civil debate about Israel, because any serious criticism of its policies is instantly countered with charges of anti-Semitism."
Brooks has also been an advocate for increased taxpayer-funds for public media (such as National Public Radio and public and community broadcasting). In April 2009 she asserted that "Years of foolish policies have left us with a choice: We can bail out journalism, using tax dollars and granting [broadcast] licenses in ways that encourage robust and independent reporting and commentary, or we can watch, wringing our hands, as more and more top journalists are laid off."
As a supporter of sending more troops to Afghanistan and an advocate of a robust and well-funded counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism strategy, and as an occasionally sharp critic of prominent Democrats (including Hillary Clinton), Brooks has also sometimes annoyed the political left.
In December 2008, for instance, she warned "Democrats still basking in the reflected glory of Obama's win" that "Idiocy and greed aren't just for Republicans. For every Larry Craig, there's an Eliot Spitzer; for every Ted Stevens, there's a Rod Blagojevich.... [I]t's precisely when a party achieves power that its members need to start worrying the most about idiocy and greed.... [P]ower really does corrupt. But illegal corruption isn't the only thing Democrats should be on guard against.... Members of political majorities succumb easily to smugness and complacency, to the conviction that explaining and justifying ideas is no longer necessary, to the temptation to dismiss critics as so many irrelevant cranks. "Groupthink" is mainly a disease of the powerful and complacent, not the fractious opposition."
On economics, Brooks is a progressive/liberal populist. She has skewered the Bush administration's alleged mishandling of the economy, argued for addressing the economic crisis with New Deal-style programs, and decried large bailouts for financial firms.
The daughter of best-selling author Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich
-Early life:Ehrenreich was born Barbara Alexander to Isabelle Oxley and Ben Howes Alexander in Butte, Montana, which she describes as then being "a bustling, brawling, blue collar mining town."...
(Nickel and Dimed
Nickel and Dimed
Nickel and Dimed: On Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Written from the perspective of the undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the "working poor" in the United States...
) and psychologist John Ehrenreich, Brooks currently lives in Virginia with her family.
Books
- Can Might Make Rights? Building the Rule of Law After Military Interventionshttp://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=052186089X (with co-authors Jane Stromseth and David Wippman Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 2006). - A Garden of Paper Flowers (Picador, 1994) (under the name Rosa Ehrenreich; later articles are credited to Rosa Ehrenreich Brooks)
Other Notable Publications
- Failed States, or the State as Failure?, 72 U. Chicago L. Rev. 1159 (2005)
- War Everywhere: Rights, National Security Law, and the Law of Armed Conflict in the Age of Terror, 153 U. Pennsylvania L. Rev. 675 (2004).
- The New Imperialism: Violence, Norms & Rule of Law, 101 Mich. L. Rev. 2275 (2003).
- Law in the Heart of Darkness: Atrocity & Duress, 43 Virginia Journal of International Law 861 (2003).
External links
- Rosa Brooks: LA Times page
- Rosa Brooks: website
- Rosa Brooks: Georgetown Law School Faculty Bio
- Video debates featuring Brooks at Bloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tv is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers...
`