Ruth Wedgwood, Director International law is a language and method for dispute resolution, both in foreign and defense policy and in overseas economic transactions. International law influences how nations justify their claims, rebuff their adversaries, build coalitions and negotiate workable compromises. The arguments for legitimacy under international law are also crucial to alliance politics, including mustering support for American policies in the United Nations. The International and Organizations Program seeks to provide a working knowledge of the principles of international law, including in the use of military force, arms control, international human rights, the environment, investment and trade. The political and legal nature of international organizations is also addressed, including that of the United Nations, the European Union, the World Trade Organization and the many structures that respond to civil war conflicts and their aftermath. International law should be of interest to students specializing in security studies, international investing and regional studies, as well as those who wish to understand a distinctive mode of thought. The attempt to craft a realistic international law must reconcile what states say and what states do in practice. It must reconcile the formal equality of states with the asymmetry of military power in the world. International law thus is also a proper calling for those who aspire to Machiavellian virtues. An International Relations degree with an International Law and Organizations concentration prepares graduates to work in the human rights field, rule of law and post-conflict reconstruction programs, the environmental field, the law of military operations and investment and trade transactions. Students who ultimately wish to practice law as a member of the bar can apply for a joint degree with a prominent American law school. The teaching of international law at SAIS has been an integral part of the School's academic curriculum since the days of its founders in the 1940s. International law, one of the original five fields, was first taught by Philip Warren Thayer, who would become the School's first dean. In 1972, the Edward B. Burling Professorship in International Law and Organizations was established at SAIS to honor the memory of Edward B. Burling, who had been involved with the School from its beginnings in 1943. Ruth Wedgwood, formerly professor of international law at Yale Law School, joined the program as its director in the fall of 2001. The program has also benefited over the years by the teaching of adjunct lecturers. Campus Options Students studying at the Bologna Center may concentrate in International Law and Organizations. Internships Students in the program have found internships with the Office of the U.N. Secretary-General, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations and numerous NGOs. Openings for interns are available at the meetings of the U.N. Human Rights Committee monitoring compliance with the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; each year, the spring meeting is in New York and the summer and fall meetings are in Geneva. Ph.D. Program The International Law and Organizations Program accepts Ph.D. students. Typical International Law and Organizations Courses - Comparative Law: The Islamic Legal System
- Democracy and Constitutionalism: Understanding the United States Constitution
- Global Constitutionalism
- International Environmental Law
- International Health Policy
- International Investment Law
- International Protection of Human Rights
- International Trade Law
- International Trafficking in Persons
- Introduction to International Law
- Law of the European Union
- Legal Problems in the Arab-Israeli Conflict
- Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition
- U.S. Foreign Affairs Powers: Legal Framework and Political Dynamic
- The United Nations and International Security
- Who Controls U.S. Foreign Policy? The Constitutional Struggle Between the Congress, the Courts and the President
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