She writes on the history of national security and counterterrorist law in the United States and United Kingdom. Her most recent book, The Cost of Counterterrorism: Power, Politics, and Liberty (Cambridge University Press, April 2008) analyzes the impact of American and British counterterrorist law on life, liberty, property, privacy, and free speech. In 2008–09 she clerked for Judge John T. Noonan, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Professor Donohue obtained her AB in Philosophy (with Honors) from Dartmouth College, her MA in Peace Studies (with Distinction) from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, her JD (with Distinction) from Stanford Law School, and her PhD in History from the University of Cambridge, England.