Peter J. Spiro

American legal scholar

Peter John Spiro

Born| 1961 (age 62-63)
Nationality|

* American
* German[1]

Alma mater| Harvard University
Known for| Expert on dual citizenship
Academic career
Discipline| Law

Peter John Spiro (born 1961) is an American legal scholar whose specialities include international law and U.S. constitutional law. He is a leading expert on dual citizenship. Formerly the Rusk Professor of International Law at the University of Georgia, since 2006 he has been the Charles R. Weiner Professor of Law at Temple University.[2]

## Personal life and career

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Spiro graduated from Harvard University in 1982, where he majored in history and wrote his senior honors thesis on France's relations with Germany in the immediate aftermath of World War II.[3] He went on to the University of Virginia Law School, receiving his J.D. in 1987. For his first several years out of law school, Spiro circulated among various government and NGO positions in DC, spending two years in the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser and two more as a law clerk for DC Circuit judge Stephen F. Williams and then Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter.[4] After spending 1992 and 1993 in private practice at Shea & Gardner, he joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a Council on Foreign Relations Fellow, and then the Clinton administration's National Security Council as Director for Democracy.[4]

Spiro began teaching at the Hofstra University School of Law in 1994, where he remained until joining the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Law as the Dean and Virginia Rusk Professor of International Law in 2004. He was additionally appointed as UGA's associate dean for faculty development in 2005.[4][5] The following year, he moved on to the Temple University Beasley School of Law as one of a number of hires that year aimed at expanding the university's highly ranked international law program.[4]

## Works

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### Beyond Citizenship

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Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization' 'Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization discusses the impact of dual citizenship, naturalization, and diaspora identity on citizenship in the United States.[6] Spiro criticized traditional methods of ascribing nationality — jus soli and jus sanguinis — for their increasing disassociation with the reality of who participates in the American political and social community, and argued that the ultimate effect would be a decline in the importance of countries and citizenship laws.[7][8] It was reviewed by political scientist Rogers Smith of the University of Pennsylvania in the Harvard Law Review.[9]

### At Home in Two Countries

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At Home in Two Countries: The Past and Future of Dual Citizenship (New York University Press, 2016) describes the evolution of legal treatment and public attitudes towards multiple nationality in the United States, including milestones such as the Expatriation Act of 1868 and the Supreme Court case Afroyim v. Rusk, as well as Spiro's own experience of acquiring German citizenship.[1]

### Selected papers

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* "Citizenship Overreach". Michigan Journal of International Law. 38: 167. 2017.
* Spiro, Peter J. (2011). "A New International Law of Citizenship". American Journal of International Law. 105 (4): 694. doi:10.5305/amerjintelaw.105.4.0694. S2CID 143124544.
* "The States and Immigration in an Era of Demi-Sovereignties". Virginia Journal of International Law. 35 (121). 1994.
* "The States and International Human Rights". Fordham Law Review. 66 (2). 1997.
* "Dual nationality and the Meaning of Citizenship". Emory Law Journal. 46 (4). 1997.

## See also

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* List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 3)

## References

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1. ^ a b Spiro, Peter (2016). At Home in Two Countries: The Past and Future of Dual Citizenship. New York University Press. ISBN 9780814785829. JSTOR j.ctt1803zs2.
2. ^ "Peter J. Spiro, Charles R. Weiner Professor of Law". Temple University Beaseley School of Law. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
3. ^ Spiro, Peter John (1982). Strength through weakness: the defense of France's German thesis, 1945–1947. Thesis (A.B., Honors). Harvard University.
4. ^ a b c d Hoffman, Hillel (2006-11-14). "Spiro hire boosts rising international law programs". Temple Times. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
5. ^ Murphy, Heidi (2005-08-11). "UGA law school announces appointment of new associate dean and the addition of four assistant professors". University of Georgia School of Law. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
6. ^ Rodriguez, Cristina M. (January 2009). "Beyond Citizenship: American Citizenship  [sic] After Globalization. By Peter J. Spiro". The American Journal of International Law. 103 (1): 180–188. doi:10.2307/20456747. JSTOR 20456747. S2CID 141333498. SSRN 1626426.
7. ^ Smith, Jackie (2009). "Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization. By Peter J. Spiro". Perspectives on Politics. 7 (2): 383. doi:10.1017/S153759270909094X. S2CID 146597022.
8. ^ Williams, Andy (2011). "Identity After Globalization by Peter J. Spiro". Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies. 18 (1): 593–599. doi:10.2979/indjglolegstu.18.1.593. JSTOR 10.2979/indjglolegstu.18.1.593. S2CID 143773199.
9. ^ Smith, Rogers M. (January 2009). "Beyond sovereignty and uniformity: the challenges for equal citizenship in the twenty-first century". Harvard Law Review. 122 (3): 907–936. JSTOR 40379727.

## External links

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* Author page on the Social Science Research Network, including papers available for viewing & download
* Posts by Spiro on Opinio Juris, a group law blog to which he, Kenneth Anderson, and eleven other authors regularly contribute
* Appearances on C-SPAN

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* Israel
* United States
* Netherlands

Other|

* IdRef