Chapter 1

Question 1

summarize fighting climate change case

Answer 1

2015, almost all states pledged support for Paris Climate Agreement, which asks states to make voluntary “nationally determined contribution” to cutting emissions. non-binding pledges allow politicians to sign agreement without seeking approval from domestic legislature. states face no tangible consequences for failing to abide by their pledges. all states impacted by climate change, but many developing states resent having to solve a problem created by developed states.

Question 2

according to intl. law, what is a people?

Answer 2

individuals who live in a common cultural, ethnic, national, or racial community

Question 3

what are the different types of non-governmental organizations?

Answer 3

advocacy groups, multinational corporations, armed opposition groups

Question 4

what are the basic assumptions of the critical perspective?

Answer 4

intl. law has little to no impact on state politics and behavior or that compliance is routine only because states choose what agreements/treaties to follow; compliance with treaty does not mean treaty had impact on state behavior

Question 5

according to the critical perspective, how does intl. law influence politics?

Answer 5

powerful states have the power to coerce weaker states into accepting and complying with their preferred rules, therefore, it is based on more economic and military power rather than genuine consent between states

Question 6

what are the basic assumptions of the contractual perspective?

Answer 6

intl. law is result of mutually beneficial cooperation between states.

Question 7

what are advocacy groups?

Answer 7

non-profits groups that promote aspirational collective values

Question 8

what is arbitration?

Answer 8

a process in which one or more individuals decide a dispute based on evidence and arguments

Question 9

what are armed opposition groups?

Answer 9

nonstate actors that fight to achieve political goals

Question 10

what was the cold war?

Answer 10

the period of 1945-1989, when US and USSR tensions shaped intl. law and politics

Question 11

what is the collaboration problem?

Answer 11

a situation in which states jointly benefit from choosing the same action, but each state is tempted to unilaterally deviate to a different action (ex. States are better off adopting free trade however many states restrict trade due to foreign competing firms)

Question 12

what is the commitment problem?

Answer 12

a situation in which sequential decision-making ensures that the plan of action that is initially optimal becomes sub-optimal as time passes (ex. resource rich states promising favorable terms to investors in the beginning and then later breaking its prior promises)

Question 13

what is communitarian law?

Answer 13

rules collectively made by the intl. community, whose interests and values trump those of individual states

Question 14

what is consular jurisdiction?

Answer 14

separate legal systems for foreigners that were overseen by consular officials from the foreigner’s home state

Question 15

what is the coordination problem?

Answer 15

a situation in which all states have a shared incentive to use a common rule, but states disagree or are uncertain about what that rule should be. (ex. what should be universal language for international flights?)

Question 16

what are duties?

Answer 16

obligations to behave a certain way

Question 17

what was the enlightenment?

Answer 17

european movement that emphasized individual autonomy, including economic and political rights

Question 18

what is globalization?

Answer 18

the increased movement of goods, investment, and people across borders

Question 19

what is an international organization?

Answer 19

“an organization established by a treaty or other instrument governed by international law and possessing its own international legal personality”

Question 20

what is the league of nations?

Answer 20

an intl. org. created in 1920 to promote “intl. peace and security… by the firm establishment of… intl. law”

Question 21

what are multinational corporations?

Answer 21

profit-seeking groups that conduct business in multiple states

Question 22

what is natural law?

Answer 22

a legal theory that claims that universal laws bind all humans, regardless of their social context or whether they have been explicitly consented (ex. cannibalism)

Question 23

what are non-governmental organizations?

Answer 23

organizations that operate independently of states to achieve political objectives

Question 24

what is the permanent court of intl. justice?

Answer 24

an intl. court created in 1920 as a part of the league of nations

Question 25

what is positivism?

Answer 25

modes of knowledge that emphasize observation and direct experience

Question 26

what is private intl. law?

Answer 26

law that governs private relationships across states, including businesses contracts, marriages, and wills

Question 27

what are rights?

Answer 27

entitlements to behave or be treated in certain ways

Question 28

what is the screening problem?

Answer 28

a situation in which a state faces difficulty in credibly communicating its preferences to others

Question 29

what is sovereignty?

Answer 29

the principle that political leaders have both authority over the internal policies of their own territory and an obligation to not interfere in the internal policies of other territories

Question 30

what is a state?

Answer 30

an entity with a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and a capacity to enter into relations with other states

Question 31

what is the United Nations?

Answer 31

an intl. org. created in 1945 “to maintain intl. peace and security”

Question 32

what is voluntary law?

Answer 32

the man-made rules to which political leaders have consented, either explicitly or implicitly, via agreements and state practice

Question 33

who was thomas aquinas?

Answer 33

a dominican friar that revived aristotle’s writings about the concept of natural law and developed theories about just war

Question 34

what did jean bodin and thomas hobbes argue?

Answer 34

political leaders had legitimacy and power independent of religious authority

Question 35

what was the importance of the treaty of westphalia in 1648?

Answer 35

it ended thirty years war in europe and established concept of sovereignty by stating that leaders could manage the religion within their own territory but not the religion of other territories.

Question 36

who was francisco de vitoria?

Answer 36

1530s spanish monk who lectured on spain’s obligations under natural law to the native americans

Question 37

who was hugo grotius?

Answer 37

he was a dutchman who was hired by the dutch east india company to defend its merchants who were captured by a portuguese ship, in which he asserted freedom to navigate the sea under natural law

Question 38

who were friedrich carl von savigny and giuseppe mazzini of genoa?

Answer 38

provided intellectual framework for germany and italy as national identities rather than just states

Question 39

what is the permanent court of arbitration?

Answer 39

intl. org. created in 1899 for intl. arbitration; not actually a court b/c there are no sitting judges; provides resources for arbitration and oversees intl. disputes

Question 40

who was hannah arendt?

Answer 40

jewish philosopher who examined how unthinking adherence to law can lead to immorality

Question 41

who is hans kelsen and hla hart?

Answer 41

bottom up account of lawmaking in which states decide laws rather than law is created by a sovereign.

Question 42

what is the importance of the modern palestinian authority?

Answer 42

political movement that represents the palestinian people, claims authority over west bank and gaza strip, has permanent population and territory but is not recognized as a state under intl. law by important states like the US UK Israel France, these states think that palestine must resolve its border dispute with israel before it can become a state, causing ambiguity about its legal duties and rights

Question 43

what is the importance of the lubicon lake band?

Answer 43

indigenous group in canada that claimed the alberta gov. violated intl. law when it seized their land; filed complaint against canada at UNHRC but committee refused to consider issue b/c it only considered individual rights, not self-determination

Question 44

what is the importance of the nigerian 1993 presidential election?

Answer 44

deals with the issue of whether or not “peoples” can refer to whole population of a state; the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights suggested that it can refer to a whole population in the case of the nigerian presidential election in which the nigerian government cancelled the outcome of the election b/c they were displeased

Question 45

what is the importance of the Endorois people in Kenya?

Answer 45

deals with the issue of whether or not “peoples” can also refer to subpopulations with unique identities; african commission on human rights referred to endorois as legally protected people in the decision in the case where kenya stole their land and used it for mining and commercial purposes and the endorois people were not given compensation by the kenyan gov.

Question 46

what is the importance of the US violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations?

Answer 46

In 1998-2003, many foreign individuals were arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to death in the US without even contacting their home state because they were not given that information. US claimed that the convention did not create individual rights so it didn’t violate the individuals rights, only the states rights, however the ICJ disagreed and said that the convention created individual rights as well.

Question 47

what is the importance of NATO’s bombing of Kosovo?

Answer 47

UN Charter prohibits use of force or threat, unless its self-defense or UN security council authorizes it. in 1990s, yugoslavia was torn apart by numerous conflicts; Kosovo was a small territory that was part of Serbia but kosovo’s population was mostly ethnic Albanian; Serbia was planning an ethnic cleansing of Kosovo but UN Security Council refused to authorize conflict; NATO ultimately acted independently and bombed Kosovo in 1999 to prevent the ethnic cleansing; example of NATO going against UN charter to protect human rights

Question 48

What is the importance of the international effort to reduce human trafficking in the 1990s?

Answer 48

Shows importance of the sociological perspective of international law. US threatened to cut foreign aid to states with poor human trafficking levels, leading to public pressure for reform.