Jessica A. Stanton

Offers a rigorous introduction to the basic concepts of international relations, including analytical approaches, state system and non-state actors, international legal principles, diplomatic practice, and international ethics. Emphasizes history, case study, and practical application. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered GRS IR 701.

Sloane section: This course offers a basic introduction to and survey of contemporary international law. We will consider both the traditional “law of nations” and postwar developments, which have shifted the fulcrum of international law from a relatively exclusive focus on the rights and duties of nation-states (countries) inter se to a broader focus on all of the diverse participants in international law today. The course agenda is twofold: first, to understand the basic structure, norms, and processes that characterize—and at times distinguish—international law; and second, to introduce a diverse sample of several of the most significant substantive fields, which, in combination, make up the contemporary international legal system. Specific topics typically include (1) international law’s history, nature, and sources; (2) the establishment, transformation, and termination of states and other actors in contemporary law; (3) national incorporation of international law, focusing on core concepts of U.S. foreign relations law; (4) how international law allocates jurisdiction to make and apply law, as well as selected immunities to jurisdiction; (5) international law’s postwar effort to protect human dignity through the evolution, expansion, or creation of comparatively novel fields, chief among them (a) human rights, (b) the law of war and (c) international criminal law; (6) how international law controls and regulates the planet’s resources (e.g., the law of the sea); and (7) economic sanctions and the use of force. We will conclude by considering some of the perennial questions, challenges, and doubts that international law faces. Relevant current events will be incorporated from time to time. George section: This course will offer a basic survey of contemporary international law. It will teach students about the major issues of public international law and policy that influence current events, with an eye to both legal theory and modern legal practice. Specific topics will include: (i) the history, theory, and nature of international law; (ii) the sources of international law; (iii) the "actors" of international law -- states, international organizations (with emphasis on the U.N. system); (iv) the domestic incorporation of international law, with a focus on key concepts of U.S. foreign relations law; (v) international human rights; (vi) the use of force; and (vii) humanitarian law.

This course examines the application of international law to situations of armed conflict. The first part of the course provides a theoretical and historical background regarding international law governing the use of force, looking first at debates over the role and effectiveness of international law in international relations, turning to questions about how international law seeks to regulate the use of force in the international system and the extent to which actors comply with their obligations under international law. The second part of the course focuses on international humanitarian law, examining different forms of humanitarian law violations, considering how international humanitarian law affects the behavior of governments and non-state actors during conflict, and discussing why governments and non-state actors often fail to abide by international humanitarian law. In this section, we will also pay particular attention to specific cases of armed conflict – both interstate conflicts such as the war between Russia and Ukraine and civil conflicts such as Libya, Rwanda, and Syria. The last section of the course considers questions about the enforcement of international humanitarian law and attempts to secure justice for violations of international law, including discussions of ad-hoc international criminal tribunals, the International Criminal Court, and efforts to hold individuals accountable for atrocity crimes in domestic courts.

Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR120) - Pre-req: WR 120 or equivalent, CS 111. Examines the challenges facing the United Nations and other international organizations in preventing, containing, and ending armed conflict, as well as their role in creating conditions for reconciliation, transitional justice, institutions building. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course.

Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). - Overview of the rules, principles, and institutions of public international law. Surveys the basic doctrinal architecture of the field and examines rapidly developing subfields and controversies. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning.