LLIR9500 The Relationship between International Law and International Relations

This topic examines the key theoretical debates on the emergence and current scope of the twin fields of international law and international relations. It will examine the relationship between the two through consideration of scholarship analysing this relationship. The topic will examine a range of contemporary issues that exemplify the inter-relationship between the two fields, directly and indirectly. Those issues could include: humanitarian intervention, human security, child soldiers, private military companies, the use of force, torture, the War on Terror, the International Criminal Court, the United Nations Security Council, post-conflict reconstruction, and genocide.

This topic aims to:

• Introduce students to the relationship between the two fields of International Law and International Relations and the main theoretical perspectives that account for that relationship
• Examine key features of each approach to international and transnational issues and to debates regarding how the two relate to each other, using case studies as well as historical and theoretical materials to explore the connections and distinctions between the two fields

1. Describe the main features of each approach to the study of international and transnational issues
2. Demonstrate an understanding how the two approaches relate to each other in theoretical and practical terms
3. Use case study materials to describe and illustrate how this relationship can be understood in practice
4. Engage in critical analysis of particular issues, using the materials and methods of the two fields to do so
5. Discuss orally substantive issues arising in class