Introduction.

• Author: Pederson, Elizabeth
• Position: SYMPOSIUM GLOBAL CONSTITUTIONALISM

The 2007 Stanford Law Review Symposium, "Global Constitutionalism," examines the interplay between the constitutional jurisprudence and principles of the United States and other nations. The articles presented in this Issue focus on global influences on U.S. jurisprudence, (1) the creation of constitutions, (2) and national security and constitutional protections. (3) These themes were further explored at the live Symposium, co-hosted by the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, which was held at Stanford Law School on February 16 and 17, 2007. The four-panel event (4) brought together many of the authors published in this Issue, as well as judges and scholars from around the world, including Professor and former Justice Dieter Grimm of Germany; Justice Asher Grunis of Israel; U.N. Ambassador Feisal Istrabadi of Iraq; Lord Lloyd of Berwick; Sir David Omand, former U.K. Security and Intelligence Coordinator; Justice Sam Rugege of Rwanda; Chief Judge Deanell Reece Tacha of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; Justice Stefan Trechsel of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and R. James Woolsey, former Director of the CIA.

Moderated by the law school's own Dean Larry Kramer, Helen Stacy, Kathleen Sullivan, and Allen Weiner, these panels explored the influence of international and foreign law on the United States and vice versa, the role of existing constitutional frameworks in the constitution-building process of emerging democracies, and the constitutional implications of counterterrorist initiatives in the United States and United Kingdom. Building on many of these concepts in his keynote address, Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General of the United Kingdom, offered his perspective on safeguarding both the rule of law and national security. (5)

The Symposium owes its success in large part to the support of the Editorial Board of the Stanford Law Review and the Herculean efforts of the Symposium Committee: Christopher Funk, Andrew Dawson, Sarah Gilbert, Ian Kellogg, Cara Ann Marr, Achyut Phadke, Scott Stewart, Marina Torres, and Tina Zee. In addition, the Symposium benefited enormously from the generous financial support of Latham & Watkins; Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy; Reed Smith; Kirkland & Ellis; Lieff Cabraser Heimann &amp...