1 / 32

Government S-1740

Government S-1740. INTERNATIONAL LAW Summer 2006 Professor Beth Simmons bsimmons@latte.harvard.edu Office: 1737 Cambridge Street, CGIS-N212. OUTLINE. What is International Law? What This Course Is (and Is Not) About Topics on the Syllabus Goals of the Course Requirements of the Course

tanner
Download Presentation

Government S-1740

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Government S-1740 INTERNATIONAL LAW Summer 2006 Professor Beth Simmons bsimmons@latte.harvard.edu Office: 1737 Cambridge Street, CGIS-N212 .

  2. OUTLINE • What is International Law? • What This Course Is (and Is Not) About • Topics on the Syllabus • Goals of the Course • Requirements of the Course • Readings • Teaching Assistants

  3. Definition of International Law A body of principles, customs, and rules recognized as effectively binding obligations by sovereign states in their mutual relations.

  4. “Law is politics” - Louis Henkin Major Questions • Why make international agreements? • Why do agreements take the form they do? • How and when do legal agreements affect governments’ and others’ behavior? • Does the U.S. have a real interest in IL? • How universally accepted is IL? • How has IL shaped international politics?

  5. What this course IS about… • Public international law • Relationship between international law & international politics

  6. What this course IS NOT about… • Private international law

  7. LAW SCHOOL

  8. SYLLABUS • Part I: Why International Law? • Part II: Structures and Mechanics • Part III: The Substance of International Legal Regulation • Part IV: Towards Conclusions – International Law and International Politics

  9. Control of Nuclear Weapons

  10. The pre-emptive use of force

  11. Holding individuals accountable

  12. The right to self-determi-nation

  13. The problem of enforcing human rights

  14. Law and politics of intellectual property rights

  15. Explaining the proliferation and form of trade agreements

  16. Goals: be able to… • Identify and understand key international law concepts and agreements • Articulate contending arguments present in state conflicts • Understand theories that shed light on the causes and consequences of international agreements. • Apply knowledge of the above to new situations

  17. REQUIREMENTS • Discussion participation – 20% • 3 quizzes, 10% each • Final, August 17, 50%

  18. Text:Slomanson, Fundamental Perspectives on International Law, 5th edition

  19. Additional Readings and Resources • Course website: http://courses.fas.harvard.edu/sum/31918 • Required readings (online via course website) • Section readings • A few additional readings

  20. Teaching Assistants: Asif Efrat: efrat@fas.harvard.edu Cosette Creamer creamer@fas.harvard.edu

  21. Sections Section A CGIS S-001 Asif Section B CGIS S-001 Asif Section C CGIS S-001 Asif Lecture Lunch Section D CGIS S-003 Cosette Section E CGIS S-003 Cosette Section F CGIS S-003 Cosette

  22. OUTLINE • The role of theory • Realism • Modern Realism’s precursors • Realist Assumptions • Critique of international law • Rational functionalism • Realist roots • Explaining the demand for international law • Constructivism • Critique of realism and rationalism • The nature of politics • Key concept: legitimacy • Conclusions

  23. The Role of Theory Legal Theory and Jurisprudence International Relations Theory

  24. Modern Realism’s Precursors Nicolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527 Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679 Thucydides Circa 400 BC

  25. Modern Realist assumptions • Objective, rational science of politics is possible • Anarchic nature of the international system • Main concept of politics: interest defined as power. • Agents: unitary, rational, self-regarding (“egoistic”) states • Autonomy of political reasoning

  26. Realist Critique of International Law • Law is not central to the “structure” that determines international outcomes • Law does not effectively govern international political behavior • International law is too decentralized to be effective • Legislatively • Judicially • Enforcement

  27. Rational Functionalism • Puzzle: we observe things that don’t make sense if the realists are correct • Must be a rational explanation for international cooperation, institutions, and law • Assumptions shared with realists: • State actors are unified, rational, and self-interested • International system is anarchic

  28. Explaining the demand for international law • The microeconomic analogy of the firm • States recognize the gains from cooperation • The problem of “market failure” • The function of international law • Clarifies contending claims • Improves information • Reduces transactions costs …making it possible to realize mutual gains

  29. The Constructivist Critique • Unanswered puzzles • Too narrow a view of politics. Politics are: • Idiographic • Purposive • Ethical • Instrumental

  30. Constructivism • The social nature of politics • The role of law Discourse, persuasion Socialization, identity Law Interests

  31. Constructivism • Key concept: legitimacy • A key political resource • The answer to the puzzle of obligation

  32. Conclusions: • Focus here is on international relations theory, not legal theory. • Purpose of IR theory is to systematize thinking about actors, constraints, and outcomes. • Realism emphasizes the central role of interests understood largely (though not exclusively) as material power. • Rational functionalism shares many of realisms assumptions, but focuses on the possibility of joint gains as a motive for cooperation • Constructivists critique both as impoverished. They emphasize the social nature of politics, legal discourse, identity and the influence of these on interests.

More Related