International Law

A core course in the Columbia Law School curriculum, L6269 is an introduction to the role(s) of law in the international system. Organized into 26 interactive sessions, it acquaints students with the theory, history, and practice of international law. The course will equip students with the tools to think doctrinally, critically, and innovatively about one of the fundamental institutions of international society. The increasing legalization of international politics makes it essential for budding lawyers to be able to understand -- and explain -- the principles, politics, and pathologies of international law. To this end, this lecture course will explore the nature of international law, its sources, principles, and institutions. It will elucidate its agents, subjects, and its "others." And it will introduce students to contending ways of seeing international law, which is to say, we will spend time comparing -- and contrasting -- analytical approaches to international law.
The course ranges far and wide -- across space, time, and disciplines -- to prepare students for a life with, and possibly in, international law. To illuminate how international law works, topics to be addressed include the logic and history of treaty making; the nature of customary international law; the role of states, international organizations, individuals, and corporations in the making, breaking, and enforcement of international law; the relationship between international and national law; the mechanics of international dispute settlement; the changing character of the law of armed conflict; the effectiveness of international courts and tribunals; the responsibility of states for international crimes; the international law of climate change; the international whaling regime; indigenous peoples' marginalization in, and contributions to, international law; the law and policy of the World Trade Organization; the origins and effects of international investment law; the international law of AI; and international law as a vocation.