This 2007 volume is intended to help readers understand the relationship between international law and international relations (IL/IR). As a testament to this dynamic area of inquiry, new research on IL/IR is now being published in a growing list of traditional law reviews and disciplinary journals. The excerpted articles in this volume, all of which were first published in International Organization, represent some of the most important research since serious social science scholarship began in this area more than twenty five years ago. They are important milestones toward making IL/IR a central concern of scholarly research in international affairs. The contributions cover some of the main topics of international affairs to provide readers with a range of theoretical perspectives, concepts, and heuristics that can be used to analyze the relationship between international law and international relations.

Laski's magnum opus

In The Costs of War, Richard Falk brings together some of his recent essays, published and unpublished, examining the impact that the Iraq War has had and will have on international law, human rights, and democracy. A new introduction provides an overview as well as a sense of the current context and reflects on the internal prospects for Iraq and on the logic of an early US military and political withdrawal. Having been revised and updated to take account of the march of events, the essays are organized into the following sections: Part 1 addresses the effects of the American invasion and occupation of Iraq on the current dimensions of world order Part 2 provides a normative inquiry into the larger intentions and consequences of the Iraq War Part 3 considers the more fundamental implications of the Iraq War, especially on our understanding of war as an instrument for the solution of conflict. Falk demonstrates the dysfunctionality of war in relation to either anti-terrorism or the pursuit of a global security system based on military dominance; the historical potential of a realistic Gandhiism as a positive alternative in the setting of global policy in the twenty-first century. The Costs of War will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, media studies, and politics and international relations in general.