International Law

Sloane section: This course offers a basic introduction to and survey of contemporary international law. We will consider both the traditional “law of nations” and postwar developments, which have shifted the fulcrum of international law from a relatively exclusive focus on the rights and duties of nation-states (countries) inter se to a broader focus on all of the diverse participants in international law today. The course agenda is twofold: first, to understand the basic structure, norms, and processes that characterize—and at times distinguish—international law; and second, to introduce a diverse sample of several of the most significant substantive fields, which, in combination, make up the contemporary international legal system. Specific topics typically include (1) international law’s history, nature, and sources; (2) the establishment, transformation, and termination of states and other actors in contemporary law; (3) national incorporation of international law, focusing on core concepts of U.S. foreign relations law; (4) how international law allocates jurisdiction to make and apply law, as well as selected immunities to jurisdiction; (5) international law’s postwar effort to protect human dignity through the evolution, expansion, or creation of comparatively novel fields, chief among them (a) human rights, (b) the law of war and (c) international criminal law; (6) how international law controls and regulates the planet’s resources (e.g., the law of the sea); and (7) economic sanctions and the use of force. We will conclude by considering some of the perennial questions, challenges, and doubts that international law faces. Relevant current events will be incorporated from time to time. George section: This course will offer a basic survey of contemporary international law. It will teach students about the major issues of public international law and policy that influence current events, with an eye to both legal theory and modern legal practice. Specific topics will include: (i) the history, theory, and nature of international law; (ii) the sources of international law; (iii) the "actors" of international law -- states, international organizations (with emphasis on the U.N. system); (iv) the domestic incorporation of international law, with a focus on key concepts of U.S. foreign relations law; (v) international human rights; (vi) the use of force; and (vii) humanitarian law.