This advanced seminar examines public international law as both a legal system and a policy framework governing relations among states, international organizations, and non-state actors. The course integrates doctrinal analysis with policy evaluation, exploring how international legal rules shape — and are shaped by — power, diplomacy, economics, and security concerns.
Students study the sources of international law, state responsibility, jurisdiction, human rights, armed conflict, international institutions, trade, environmental governance, and dispute resolution. Each topic is examined through both legal doctrine and policy consequences, highlighting how states use law strategically to pursue national interests while participating in a shared normative order.
The seminar emphasizes international law as a living system operating under conditions of political contestation and institutional constraint. Students develop the capacity to analyze legal rules not only for their doctrinal meaning but also for their policy implications in global governance.
This course assumes prior foundational legal training and familiarity with international legal concepts.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. Explain core doctrines of public international law.
2. Analyze how law shapes state policy decisions.
3. Evaluate enforcement and compliance mechanisms.
4. Interpret treaties and customary law frameworks.
5. Assess international institutional design.
6. Apply legal doctrine to geopolitical disputes.
7. Critically evaluate policy tradeoffs in global governance.
8. Understand jurisdictional and sovereignty conflicts.
9. Analyze interaction between domestic and international law.
10. Develop sophisticated legal-policy arguments.
