Who is Ambassador John Norton Moore?

Answer 1

John Norton Moore is the Walter L. Brown Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he has taught since 1966. Perhaps best known as the Father of National Security Law, he is a world-class international lawyer and has represented the United States in cases before the International Court of Justice.

He first became famous as a young graduate fellow at Yale Law School, when he was the principal author of a massive legal brief defending the legality of the Vietnam War on both international and constitutional grounds. The memo was endorsed by the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association in 1966.

He is also arguably America's top expert on the Law of the Sea, having helped negotiate the Law of the Sea Convention as an Ambassador. He directs the Center for Oceans Law and Policy at UVA Law School, as well as the Center for National Security Law. A former four-term chairman of the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security, he continues to serve as a Counselor to the Committee and in 2013 received the prestigious Liebman Award for his lifelong contributions to the field of National Security Law.

He was appointed by President Reagan and unanimously confirmed by the Senate at the first Chairman of the Board of the United States Institute of Peace, and is the author of a landmark book entitled Solving the War Puzzle that applies modern economic "incentive theory" to explaining how wars originate.

In his spare time, More is also a world-class Power Lifter and member of the U.S.A. Power Lifting Team. He placed fourth at the 2013 World Championships in Prague in his age and weight class, bench pressing 281 pounds at the age of 76.