NS3900 International Law and Organizations

An introduction to the principles of international law including origins, sources, sovereignty, states, territory, jurisdiction, persons, treaties, settlement of disputes and the Law of the Sea. The course also traces the evolution of international organizations from the Concert of Europe, through the League of Nations, United Nations, European Economic Community, NATO, and various forms of multi-national and transnational organizations. PREREQUISITE: None.

Lecture Hours

4

Lab Hours

0

Course Learning Outcomes

• Assess the treaty and statutory frameworks that regulate international relations in peace, crisis, and war in its historical and contemporary dimensions.
• Evaluate the organizations that effect the international legal order.
• Analyze the major court decisions and precedents in U.S. law that characterize the country’s international and transnational legal roles and responsibilities.
• Extend such critical inquiry to other states and actors in global affairs today.
• Synthesize the main premises and practices of several international legal subspecialties, including human rights law, space law, law of the sea, international environmental law, and international criminal law.
• Master the interpretation, analysis, and relevant applications of international legal sources, including judicial decisions and treaty interpretations, at the informed practitioner (non-lawyer) level.