Session Description

Darin Johnson is Professor of Law at Howard University School of Law. He is the author of the book Digital Coup: The Conspiracy to Thwart Global Democracy (2026). His scholarship explores the balance between national security and human rights law and policy in the United States and abroad. He received his B.A. from Yale College and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. Immediately following law school, he served as an Honors attorney in the Office of the General Counsel to the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon. He then spent over a decade working as an attorney-adviser and senior policy official at the U.S. Department of State before joining the Howard Law faculty. After leaving the Pentagon, Professor Johnson continued to practice law as an attorney-adviser in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser. During his tenure with the Office of the Legal Adviser, Professor Johnson advised on a wide range of international legal issues, involving Middle Eastern, political-military, United Nations, and other multilateral matters. He served as the Legal Adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. Professor Johnson also served on detail to the Office of the White House Counsel during the Obama Administration. Professor Johnson served as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions, which was tasked with coordinating U.S. assistance to politically transitioning countries in the Middle East and North Africa following the Arab Spring uprisings. He received several Departmental honors for his work. Professor Johnson's research interests include constitutional reform, reconciliation, and the rule of law in post-conflict and transitioning states. Professor Johnson provides legal advice on matters of public international law and the rule of law in post-conflict, transitioning, and developing countries through his work as a Senior Peace Fellow with the Public International Law and Policy Group and his consultancy work.