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IRPG857: International Law and Institutions

In this unit we will attempt to discover why international law and institutions have increasingly become the instruments of choice for states in solving common problems and expressing common values. By the end of this unit, each student should be able to come to an informed and reasoned view on the functions (or roles), effects, and impact of international law and institutions on state behaviour, interests and identities. The unit has both a theoretical and empirical focus. In the first part of the unit we will focus on questions of the nature of international law and institutions, the historical and political context in which both have developed, before examining the major theoretical approaches to law and institutions within the IR discipline (Realism, Liberalism and Constructivism). The second part of the unit will focus on a number of substantive issue areas in which law and institutions have come to play a central role in enhancing state cooperation, and regulating state behaviour, including the use of force and the United Nations collective security system; terrorism and the challenge to international law and institutions; international crimes and the ICC; international trade and the WTO; and finally climate change and international environmental institutions such as Kyoto. In the final part of the unit we look specifically at the impact of unequal power relations on the formation, functioning, legitimacy and effectiveness of international law and institutions as well as the issue of legitimacy and global governance.