This volume derives from a series of lectures delivered as the `general course' at the Hague Academy of International law in July 1989. Like those lectures, this volume does not pretend to provide a complete treatise covering all international law. Rather, it offers a particular perspective on the principal subjects of traditional international law, elaborates new developments, and dares reexamine assumptions and premises. The book is built on three themes. The first addresses law as politics, and international law as the law of a political system, now comprised of more than 180 separate, independent states. The essential autonomy of states accounts for the political (as well as economic and cultural) heterogeneity in a pluralist and fragmented system, and international law as its common denominator of normative expression. A second theme explores change in international law as reflecting change in the values and purposes of the international political system. It traces the pursuit through law of the traditional ideal of the state system to secure every state's right to realize its own agenda through its own institutions, and the superimposed contemporary purpose to promote individual human rights and welfare in every society. The third theme perceives a movement in the law from `conceptualism' to `functionalism', from logical deduction out of abstract principles to pragmatic attention to practical needs and solutions to new and old human problems. Each of these themes dominates in several chapters but the other themes are not absent from any of them. Each will add a fresh perspective and contribute to understanding the nature and operation of international law in the international political system at the turn of a new century.

International law shapes nearly every aspect of our lives. It affects the food we eat, the products we buy, the rights we hold, and the wars we fight. Yet international law is often believed to be the exclusive domain of well-heeled professionals with years of legal training. This text uses clear, accessible writing and contemporary political examples to explain where international law comes from, how actors decide whether to follow international law, and how international law is upheld using legal and political tools. Suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, this book is accessible to a wide audience and is written for anyone who wants to understand how global rules shape and transform international politics. Each chapter is framed by a case study that examines a current political issue, such as the bombing of Yemen or the use of chemical weapons in Syria, encouraging students to draw connections between theoretical concepts and real-world situations. The chapters are modular and self-contained, and each is paired with multiple Supplemental Cases: edited and annotated judicial opinions. Accompanied by ready-to-use PowerPoint slides and a testbank for instructors.

Teaches how and why states make, break, and uphold international law using accessible explanations and contemporary international issues.

A runner-up for the 2018 Chadwick Alger Prize, International Studies Association's International Organization Section, this provocative reassessment of the rule of law in world politics examines how and why governments use and manipulate international law in foreign policy.