Conference To Explore Economic Levers of National Security

Neil H. MacBride ’92, general counsel of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, will deliver the keynote address at a conference on U.S. use of economic measures in service of national security at the University of Virginia School of Law.

“Regulating Conflict and Competition: The Economic Levers of National Security,” sponsored by the National Security Law Center, will be held Feb. 24, starting at 11:30 a.m. in Caplin Pavilion.  

“As the U.S. government has increasingly merged the ideas of economic and national security, it is leaning heavily on regulatory actions, including economic sanctions, export controls and investment screening,” said Professor Kristen Eichensehr, the center’s director. “The response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown the importance of these economic levers to addressing international conflicts, and the United States is also deploying them in an attempt to manage technological competition with China.” 

MacBride serves as the chief legal officer of the Treasury and the principal legal adviser to the department’s secretary and senior leaders on a wide range of issues relating to domestic finance, terrorism finance, financial crimes enforcement, international economic affairs and tax policy. He is also the head of the Treasury Legal Division, supervising 2,000 attorneys who serve across the department. Dean Risa Goluboff will introduce MacBride.

Other panels feature government, private-sector and academic experts discussing economic sanctions and the regulation of cross-border technology and data flows. 

Students are invited to attend an informal career breakfast at 10 a.m. to learn more about the practice of national security law. Lunch and refreshments will be served.

Full Schedule