GOVT 6867 - [International Law, War, and Human Rights]

Spring. Next offered 2015-2016. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Permission of instructor required.

M. Evangelista.

This course examines the role of international law in influencing states’ behavior regarding issues related to war and human rights. It draws on literature in the fields of international relations and law to study such questions as: why states comply with international law; under what conditions legal norms become customary and widely accepted; under what conditions long-standing legal norms become undermined; and what is the relative influence in shaping the law of state practice, the efforts of non-state actors and popular movements, and the opinions of legal professionals? Much of the substantive focus of the course will be on the development of international humanitarian law and human-rights law, and the impact of the “War on Terror.”