International Constitutional Law – Prof Marc Weller (runs over both terms)
The appreciation of law in international relations seems to undergo radical change at almost regular intervals. At certain periods, the international rule of law is proclaimed as the core principle of international life. After the devastation of WWI--the first war meant to end all war- - the ‘legal approach' to international politics was deployed to replace the traditional system of power politics and war. World War II left the legal approach thoroughly discredited. The US/UK invasion of Iraq in 2003 started to dent the belief in a New World Order. Since then, fragmentation of global values is said to have occurred. Regional particularities are being invoked when human rights are discussed—rights that by their nature ought to be fully universal. New, contentious issues are dividing East and West and North and South, including demands for a changed global economic order, demands for the preservation of the environment, the problems relating to the competition for scarce resources and increasing competition over the control of internationalized spaces, etc.
Throughout, the course considers international law as a paradigm for the critical analysis of international relations, while at the same time not forgetting the specific nature of law as a distinct and practical tool for the management of transnational affairs.