Spells out the basic contours of district court jurisdiction in federal question, admiralty, and diversity cases, with notes on venue and on the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction. Tells the student something about the applicable law governing federal proceedings, including remedies against government officers. Deals with limitations on the exercise of jurisdiction that cuts across the various jurisdictional categories: sovereign and official immunities and a variety of statutory and judicial abstention doctrines. Follows the litigant into situations in which a federal court is asked to pass upon what another tribunal has already done.

Discusses the way leaders deal with risk in making foreign policy decisions