UPDATED VERSION OF

Weekly and Daily Topics for

International Law: Law, Context, and Theory

Professor Setear

Spring 1999

You may view a tentative list of course topics by week or by day. 

Note:  This page conforms the list of weekly and daily topics to the way in which, as of February 28th, the class sessions have actually proceeded.  (That's Weeks One through Six for the Weekly Topics, and the first five italicized sets of topics for the Daily Topics.)  Note that, in contrast to the "Initial, Tentative List of Topics," it is no longer true that each topic lasts exactly one week.  It is in that sense not quite right to call the Weekly Topics "Weekly" Topics, but I'm not going to split hairs about it. 

The page, by dint of listing weekly and daily topics through the end of the semester, also provide a tentative listing of future topics.

Weekly Topics

The semester, you will recall, is 14 weeks long.

1. The International Legal System and Its Context
2. Korea Since 1950: An Example of International Law in Context (begin)
3. {The Week of Professorial Ill Health}
4. Korea Since 1950: An Example of International Law in Context (finish) AND Trade Treaties (Part I – Overview)
5. Trade Treaties (Part II – The European Court of Justice)
6. Trade Treaties (Part III – The World Trade Organization)
7. The Rights and Limits of Sovereignty
8. The Nation-State and Liability (begin)
9. The Nation-State and Liability (finish)
10.   The Role of the US Congress in International Law (begin)
11.   The Role of the US Congress in International Law (finish)
12.   Custom and Treaties: Consensus and Consent-Oriented Rules in a Decentralized System
13.   Environmental Treaties (Part I – Ozone)
14.   Environmental Treaties (Part II – Whaling)

Daily Topics

Daily topics appear in a bulleted list below the italicized weekly topic. The course meets three times weekly.

The International Legal System and Its Context

• The ICJ and the US Supreme Court
• The International Legal System
• Theories of International Politics and Legal Cooperation (begin)
• Theories of International Politics and Legal Cooperation (finish)

Korea Since 1950: An Example of International Law in Context

• The Korean War and the United Nations Charter
• The Korean War, the President, and the Supreme Court
• North Korean Nuclear Proliferation in the 1990s: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
• North Korean Nuclear Proliferation in the 1990s: The Mazarr Article and the Agreed Framework (begin)
• North Korean Nuclear Proliferation in the 1990s: The Mazarr Article and the Agreed Framework (finish)

Trade Treaties (Part I – Overview)

• Trade and Economic Integration

Trade Treaties (Part II – The European Union)

• An Overview of European Economic Integration
• The European Court of Justice: Legal Doctrines (Stein)
• The European Union and the European Court of Justice (Weiller) (begin)
• The European Union and the European Court of Justice (Weiller) (finish)

Trade Treaties (Part III – The World Trade Organization)

• The GATT and the World Trade Organization: History and Structure
• "Inventing the World Trade System" with James Bacchus, WTO Appellate Body
• "The Appellate Body and the WTO" with James Bacchus, WTO Appellate Body
• Is the WTO's Appellate Body a Court in a System of Courts?
• What is the US Agenda for the Seattle Ministerial Meeting of the WTO? (Tues., Apr. 21st)

The Rights and Limits of Sovereignty

• The Nation-State and Recognition: Generally
• The Nation-State and Recognition: Independent States and Others
• The Nation-State and Recognition: The UN and the Contours of Sovereignty

The Nation-State and Liability (begin)

• Torture-Based Judgments in Foreign Courts
• The Sources and Substance of Human-Rights Law with Professor David Martin
• The Nation-State and Recognition: China(s)

SPRING BREAK

The Nation-State and Liability (finish)

• Sovereign Immunity
• Diplomatic Immunity, Heads of State, and Acts of State

The Role of the US Congress in International Law

• US Legislation and Intenational Law: The Helms-Burton Act with Professor Paul Stephan
• The US Senate and Treaty Ratification: The UNCLOS Example with Professor John Norton Moore
• The US Senate and Treaty Termination: Goldwater v. Carter (begin)
• The US Senate and Treaty Termination: Goldwater v. Carter (finish)
• The US Congress and Treaty Ratification: Is NAFTA Constitutional? (begin)
• The US Congress and Treaty Ratification: Is NAFTA Constitutional? (finish)

Customary International Law: Consensus-Oriented Rules in a Decentralized System

• Custom and Pinochet
• Custom and Kosovo
• Kosovo and International Law Generally (Thursday, Apr. 22nd)
• Custom and Norms (half-session)

Treaties: Consent-Oriented Rules in a Decentralized System

• The Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma (half-session)
• Treaties and the Law of Treaties
• The Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma and the Law of Treaties

Environmental Treaties (Part I – Ozone)

• The Ozone Treaties
• Ozone and Iteration

Environmental Treaties (Part II – Whaling and Dolphins)

• The Whaling Treaties
• The Whaling Treaties, Unilateral US Sanctions, and Trade Treaties