Exploring the intersection of international law and world politics from the viewpoints of the two disciplines.

This book provides an expanded conceptualization of legalization that focuses on implementation of obligation, precision, and delegation at the international and domestic levels of politics. By adding domestic politics and the actors to the international level of analysis, the authors add the insights of Kenneth Waltz, Graham Allison, and Louis Henkin to understand why most international law is developed and observed most of the time. However, the authors argue that law-breaking and law-distorting occurs as a part of negative legalization. Consequently, the book offers a framework for understanding how international law both produces and undermines order and justice. The authors also draw from realist, liberal, constructivist, cosmopolitan and critical theories to analyse how legalization can both build and/or undermine consensus, which results in either positive or negative legalization of international law. The authors argue that legalization is a process over time and not just a snapshot in time.

This volume addresses the emergence of multiple legal and law-like arrangements that alter the interaction between states, their delegated agencies, international organizations and non-state actors in international and transnational politics. Political scientists and legal scholars have been addressing the ‘legalization’ of international regimes and international politics, and engaging in interdisciplinary research on the nature, the causes and the effects of the norm driven controls over different areas and dimensions of global governance. Written by leading contributors in the field, the book claims that the emergence and spread of legal and law-like arrangements contributes to the transformation of world politics, arguing that ‘legalization’ does not only mean that states co-operate in more or less precise, binding and independent regimes, but also that different types of non-state actors can engage in the framing, definition, implementation and enforcement of legal and law-like norms and rules. To capture these diverse observations, the volume provides an interpretative framework that includes the increase in international law-making, the variation of legal and legalized regimes and the differentiation of legal and law-like arrangements. Law and Legalization in Transnational Relations is of interest to students and researchers of international politics, international relations and law.

As all manner of commerce becomes increasingly global, states must establish laws to protect property rights, human rights, and national security. In many cases, states delegate authority to resolve disputes regarding these laws to an independent court, whose power depends upon its ability to enforce its rulings. Examining detailed case studies of the International Court of Justice and the transition from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to the World Trade Organization, Leslie Johns finds that a court’s design has nuanced and mixed effects on international cooperation. A strong court is ideal when laws are precise and the court is nested within a political structure like the European Union. Strong courts encourage litigation but make states more likely to comply with agreements when compliance is easy and withdraw from agreements when it is difficult. A weak court is optimal when law is imprecise and states can easily exit agreements with minimal political or economic repercussions. Johns concludes the book with recommendations for promoting cooperation by creating more precise international laws and increasing both delegation and obligation to international courts.

An introduction to international law for politics and IR studentsThis textbook introduction to international law and justice is specially written for students studying law in other departments, such as politics and IR. Written by a lawyer and a political theorist, it shows how international politics has influenced international law.Edwin Egede and Peter Sutch show that neglected questions of justice and ethics are essential to any understanding of the institutions of international society. They walk students through the most crucial questions and critical debates in international law today: sovereignty and global governance, sovereign and diplomatic immunity, human rights, the use of force, sanctions and the domestic impact of international law.

The concept of 'human rights' as a universal goal is at the centre of the international stage. It is now a key part in discourse, treaties and in domestic jurisdictions. However, as this study shows, the debate around this development is actually about human rights law. This text scrutinizes the extent to which legalization shapes the human rights ideal, and surveys its ethical, political and practical repercussions. How does the law influence what we think about rights? What more is there to such rights than their legal protection? These expert contributors approach these questions from a range of perspectives: political theory/moral theory, anthropology, sociology, international law, international politics and political science, to deliver a diversity of methodologies. This book is essential reading for those wishing to develop a clear understanding of the relationship between human rights ideals and laws and for those working toward the fostering of a genuine human rights culture.

Between Law and Diplomacy crafts an insider's look at international trade disputes at one of the most important institutions in the global economy—the World Trade Organization. The WTO regulates the global rules for trade, and—unique among international organizations—it provides a legalized process for litigation between countries over trade grievances. Drawing on interviews with trade lawyers, ambassadors, trade delegations, and trade jurists, this book details how trade has become increasingly legalized and the implications of that for power relations between rich and poor countries. Joseph Conti looks closely at who uses the system to initiate and pursue disputes, who settles and on what terms, and the relative disconnect between pursuing a dispute and what a country gains through efforts to gain compliance with WTO dictates. Through this inside look at the process of disputing, Conti provides fresh perspective on how and why the law authorizes the use of specific resources and tactics in the ever unfolding struggle for control in the global economy.

By building on and extending debates in socio-legal studies about the social role of law, and dealing with issues largely absent from international political economy this book will be of great interest to socio _ legal scholars and political economist&

Countering mainstream theories, this book focuses on the expanding institutionalisation of international law.

Influential writers on international law and international relations explore the making, interpretation and enforcement of international law.