ASIL UN21 Interest Group NEWSLETTER - ISSUE #31: September 2004 ||| (formerly UN Interest Group and UN Decade of International Law)

STATE BUILDING I: ISSUES OF CHOICE,
CREATION AND LEGAL JUSTIFICATION
(Macro version of two panels–#1 staffed by UN21 ASIL Interest Group)

Panel I Description: The Overall Enterprise. The management of a post-conflict society is one of the most daunting tasks embraced by the community of nations. Panel members will address the factors associated with Security Council authorization, and its limits when finally obtained. One must appreciate the politics of selection, including the apparent disregard of certain regions. The speakers will explore how the missions are created, the environment conducive to their deployment, and the relevant laws of occupation. The issues will include the relation between the international actors and local governmental entities, potential hazards when attempting a democratic make-over, and the over-arching blueprint for enmeshing and detaching such a pervasive international enterprise with long-term domestic governance.

Moderator: William Slomanson, Visiting Professor, Pristina University (Kosovo) & Professor, Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

Panelists: Hans Corell, Ambassador, Former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations–Authorization for state-building missions; negotiations leading up to establishing a protectorate; the nature of the mandates, as in East Timor & Kosovo.

Ralph Wilde, University College, London–Relation between the international actors and local governmental entities; remedies against the international actors engaged in state-building; cases that have been brought against international administrators in Bosnia and Kosovo; and the question of suing individual member states of the organizations involved, as is being attempted currently before the European Court of Human Rights in relation to NATO in Kosovo.

Eyal Benvenisti, Tel Aviv University–Expert on occupation law; speaking primarily about the adequacy of the laws of occupation to the management of post-conflict societies in Iraq and elsewhere.

Elizabeth Cousens, Social Science Research Council (NGO?) & Vice President, International

Project Specifics: How institutions in post-conflict states are developed on the ground; strategies for establishing the rule of law; accountability of international actors; issues surrounding the timing/structure of elections; and constitutional issues.

Courts

Mauro Politi & Giuseppe Nesi (ed), The International Criminal Court and the Crime of Aggression (Ashgate: 2004) [193] 0-7546-2362-9. Price: USD 89.95.

The Rome Treaty’s 4^th charging allegation, the Crime of Aggression, has yet to be defined by treaty members. This collection of essays, by prominent authors in international law, provides excellent insight into exactly what to expect when the definitional pen is finally put to paper.

The seventeen essays are divided into four parts. The first traces the crime of aggression, during its evolution from Nuremberg to the Rome Statute. It includes analyses of how crimes against peace can lead to the criminalization of aggression and the debate within the ICC’s Preparatory Commission. The second part assesses inter-related issues with definition and jurisdiction, including the potential redefining of aggression. The third part covers the relationship between the ICC and the UN Security Council. The final part (Afterword) predicts the journey of various ICC issues from PrepComm to the Assembly of States Parties.

This collection graphically depicts a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It provides insight about bridging the gap between the ICC’s current "on paper" crime of aggression and the long-awaited multilateral definition of aggression.

Force

Dietrich Schindler & Jiri Toman (ed.), The Laws of Armed Conflicts: A Collection of Conventions, Resolutions and Other Documents (Martinus Nijhoff: 4^th ed. 2004) [1493] 90-04-13818-8. Price: None given.

This collection conveniently assembles all the treaties, draft conventions, and resolutions on the law of armed conflict adopted since the beginning of the codification movement in the 19^th Century. It is the fourth edition of this respected work, and the most inclusive because of the notable increase in number of available texts provided.

A brief but riveting Introduction chronicles the interim eras in the evolution of the law of armed conflict, especially after the end of the Cold War. This comprehensive researcher’s dream is divided into thirteen subparts: (1) general rules, including the 1863 Lieber Code; (2) on the methods and means of conducting warfare, which is of great modern interest in the current suppression of weapons of mass destruction; (3) air warfare; (4) protection of civilian populations from armed warfare; (5) victims of war, especially under the Geneva Conventions; (6) protection of human rights in armed conflict; (7) protection of cultural property, which is of special interest given the recent US Supreme Court decision retrospectively depriving Austria of sovereign immunity in the Nazi confiscated picture case; (8) warfare at sea, including the 1994 San Remo Manual produced by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law; (9) civil war, including the 1999 Berlin Humanitarian Law for Non-State Parties; (10) the UN forces regime, including the 1999 Secretary-General’s Bulletin on Observance of International Humanitarian Law; (11) mercenaries, including the 1989 International Convention against the Recruitment, Use and Financing of Mercenaries adopted by the UN General Assembly; (12) war crimes, including the ICC statute regarding Rwanda; and (13) neutrality.

The book is superbly organized, thus providing instant access to its contents. The front matter contains a very useful List of Reproduced Documents in Chronological Order, complimented by a more than sixty-page Index–presumably unparalleled in recent publishing history. This collection yields more than one could hope for between two covers, typified by the respective short introductions of each text, as well as signatories, ratifications, and reservations.

Human Rights

Lief Holmstrom (ed.), Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Martinus Nijhoff: 2003) [716] 90-411-2060-2. Price: USD 252.

As 145 nations have ratified this treaty, any personal or institutional library on International Law or Human Rights would be incomplete without such a valued reference work. It chronicles the work of the Economic and Social Council–specifically its monitoring Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This book conveniently collates the work product of eighth through twenty-seventh sessions (1993 to 2001).

The periodic State submissions for eighty-three nations were submitted to the Committee. These form the basis for this book’s resulting reports on each national report’s positive aspects, difficulties in implementation, principal subjects of concern, and the Committee’s resulting suggestions and recommendations. The authoritativeness of each Committee Concluding Observation is buttressed by the many footnotes which facilitate both access to content and further scholarly endeavor. The immense value of this book is its provision of ready access, between two covers, to the primary work of the watchdog agency charged with monitoring this key treaty-based human rights basket.

Thelma Galvez P., Economic Aspects of Gender Equity (UN: 2002) [paper: 74]

92-1-121380-0. Price: USD 10.

This report was prepared under auspices of the UN’s Women and Development Unit of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile. It examines the effect of economic development on social equality and gender inequality. This report examines size and income levels, ownership and entrepreneurship, unemployment levels, and various economic characteristics of gender inequity in its pursuit of its objective to demonstrate the effects of gender inequity. It not only achieves that goal, but yields a veritable research dream via its numerous tables, graphs, charts, and illustrations.

Bettina Shell-Duncan & Ylva Hernlund (ed), Female "Circumcision" in Africa: Culture, Controversy, and Change (Rienner: 2001) [paper: 349] 1-55587-995-0. Price: USD 22.50.

Much has been written about female genital mutilation (FGM) since it so prominently surfaced in the human rights scholarship of the 1990s. This is a durable collection of fourteen articles that is riveting and authoritative in its overall treatment of the many nuances of this phenomenon. It provides case studies and analyses of FGM from the African nations most associated with this practice. The contributors, both western and indigenous, jointly offer a succinct but authoritative assessment of FGM. They trace the nature of the debate and responses to feminist outrage.

In addition to an Index that noticeably facilitates access to content, a lengthy bibliography promotes access to many other resources. No collection which purports to focus on gender and/or human rights would be complete without this classic assessment of a scenario that is far more intense and pervasive than most readers could imagine.

Maimul Ashan Khan, Human Rights in the Muslim World: Fundamentalism, Constitutionalism, and International Politics (Carolina: 2003) [paper: 489] 0-89089-045-5. Price: USD 35.

The dearth of objective literature on the subject of human rights in the Muslim world has been notably augmented by this well-written and painstakingly documented account. It explores often sheathed perspectives on democracy and human rights implementation in the Muslim world. The author delves into social, political, and cultural dichotomies. This analysis pursues an objective truth about many popular conceptions about Islam, Muslamic nationalism, and militant fundamentalism.

This book’s eight chapters thus cover the emergence of Muslim States; the political and economic dimensions of contemporary fundamentalism; Islamic philosophy and internationally-derived human rights norms; socialist constitutionalism; the rise and fall of the Taliban; fresh dynamics in US-Iranian relations; regional economic co-operation within the six-nation, newly independent Muslamic Economic Organization; and religious factors affecting South Asian politics.

The appendixes provide further access to key constitutive documents, followed by a useful glossary of terms. These features are complimented by an Index that facilitates instant access to the contents of this fascinating description of human rights in the Muslim world.

Organizations

Henry Schermers & Niels Blokker, International Institutional Law: Unity Within Diversity (Martinus Nijhoff: 2003) [paper: 1302] 90-04-13828-5. Price: USD 75.

This authoritative treatise is a "must have" for any personal or institutional library collection on international organization. The laws of various individual organizations are not analyzed as such. Instead, this exquisitely written and well-documented book presents comparative assessments of organizational practices regarding membership, decision-making, financing, sanctions, legal status, and external relations.

The blueprint is superbly divided into 1,902 sections, to facilitate both updating and cross-referencing. A thirty-page Annex conveniently collates what appears to be every other resource on the subject of international organization. A well-considered Index (often a disaster in other books) provides quick access to content. If there were an Editor’s Choice for best book reviewed on the subject, this one would surely rank at or near the top.

Margaret Karns & Karen Mingst, International Organizations: The Politics and Processes of Global Governance (Rienner: 2004) [paper: 603] 1-55587-963-2. Price: USD 32.50.

Having already received accolades from prominent sources (see back cover), one can readily add that this is an extraordinary primer for any student of international relations. It would be quite an understatement to observe that the process of global governance has become intensely complex, due to the participation of both former and fresh organizational actors in the post-Cold War era. This book collates and masterfully illustrates the varied processes that drive contemporary international organization (IO).

Its rich content is divided into four parts. Part 1 presents the first leg of this book’s satisfying journey: Understanding Global Governance. One may thus commence the study of IO with accommodating definitional contours in hand. Part 2 retains the brisk pace when presenting the Evolving Pieces of Global Governance, including analyses of State and non-State actors, system, the UN, regional IOs, and NGOs. Part 3 assesses the continuing and growing need for governance by IO, to encourage peace, human rights and development, and the environment. Part 4 intelligently explores the balance between the need for more global structures versus the associated dilemmas of supplemental IO governance. Some fifty tables, figures and maps provide excellent backdrops for illustrating the content to all potential readers ands students of international relations and organization.

Post-Conflict Societies

Nassrine Azimi & Chang Li Lin (ed.), The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET): Debriefing and Lessons (Martinus Nijhoff: 2003) [306] 90-411-2069-6. Price: USD 173.

UNTAET effectively ruled East Timor for thirty months before handing it over to this now independent nation. While much has been written about the seemingly never-ending UN administration of Kosovo, this book fills a gap in related information regarding lessons learned from the UN’s first such operation in East Timor. It has thus collated and published the behind closed-door comments at the 2002 Tokyo Conference on the UN Administration of East Timor–organized by various public and private think tanks including the UN Institute for Training and Research. The Tokyo Conference participants are eminent scholars and practitioners who had both deep and personal involvement in that then-unique UN operation–whereby a State-like entity was actually governed by an international organization for the first time.

This work focuses on the debates preceding UNTAET’s creation, achievements and shortcomings, and lessons for such future administrations. It is thus a "must have" for any public and private book collection that either focuses on, or wishes to have more complete coverage of, post-conflict nation building. It features the various introductory remarks, keynote speeches, key details of the planning and implementation stages. It provides unparalleled insight regarding the successor mission for ensuring that gains made over the prior two-and-a-half years of UN administration would be retained in this new republic.

° Dima Khazem & Tobi Cherman, Conflict Resolution, Confidence-Building and Peace Enhancement Among Somali Women (IOM: 2002) [paper: 100] 92-9068-143-8. Price: USD 21.

Regions

Ineta Ziemele (ed.), Baltic Yearbook of International Law (Martinus Nijhoff: 2003) [361] 90-04-13746-7. Price: USD 300.

This third annual edition presents both a symposium and general articles on topical issues affecting the Baltic region. The symposium is on Reparations for Internationally Wrongful Acts of States. It includes the views of five regional experts on human rights, potential reparations for Russian compensation for Soviet-era repression, and much more. The general articles in this eclectic grouping analyze Baltic perspectives on the use of force, the Kyoto Protocol, and investment. Two particularly intriguing articles address the Practice of the Commissioner of the Council on the Baltic Sea States on Democratic Development, and Elements of Practice of the Baltic States in International Law: 2002.

This snapshot of current Baltic practice includes book reviews of works of interest to the international community, especially on geopolitical themes within the Baltic region: international organizations, negotiations on the withdrawal of Russia from Lithuania, and subsidies under GATT/WTO.

R.P Anand, Studies in International Law and History: An Asian Perspective (Martinus Nijhoff: 2004) [287] 90-04-13859-5. Price: USD 115.

This work collates the perspectives of the widely-read Professor R.P. Anand, on an eclectic groups of International Law topics. One may thus mine this rich vein of scholarly endeavor by one who some consider "the" Third World spokesman.

This work contains nine chapters: an assessment of Nehru’s impact on International Law and Relations; the history of Japan’s impact on "Civilized" States; status of Tibet; enhancing the acceptability of dispute settlement; the World Court on trial; the mutilation of the ideal of the common heritage of mankind; navigation through territorial straits; South Asia and the Law of the Sea; and a new international economic order for sustainable development.

It is a useful collection of themes, set in Asian perspective, that comfortably plugs gaps in those personal and institutional libraries seeking a diversity of views on international legal topics.

Refugees

Susan Kneebone (ed.), The Refugees Convention 50 Years On: Globalization and International Law (Ashgate: 2003) [338] 0-7546-2270-3. Price: 99.95.

A dozen authors have herein collaborated in a way that vividly illustrates the adage about the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. The treatment of foreigners suggests provocative literature, and this is no exception. Its recognized refugee scholars and practitioners explore challenges to national human rights commitments, and whether the aging 1951 Refugee Convention provides an adequate framework for protection. They focus on globalization as it impacts refugees and asylum seekers. They do not limit their analyses to just the UNHCR but also NGOs and their vitality as instruments for change. This work is a "must" for any collection focusing generally on International Law, and specifically on refugee law.

The chaptered analyses include the following: a useful overview of the essentials; the evolution of refugee policy; whether the Refugee Convention is in mid-life crisis or terminally ill; criminality and structural tensions within the reach of the Convention; alternative protection under the Torture Convention and the ICCPR; role of the UNHCR; new dilemmas involving sexuality and refugee status; and global solutions.

States & Practice

I. William Zartman (ed.), Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority (Rienner: 2003) [paper 303] 1-55587-560-2. Price: USD 22.

This book conveniently collates the views of seventeen authors on the increasingly common subject of failed States and their rebirth. Part I focuses on the collapsed and reconstructed States of Chad, Uganda, and Ghana. Part II addresses the contemporary collapses in Somalia, Liberia, Mozambique, and Ethiopia. Part III assesses the endangered States of Angola, Zaire, Algeria, and South Africa. Part IV presents the agents of reconstruction available via the UN, foreign intervention, democratization, and Africa generally. Part 5 concludes with a quite provocative chapter entitled Putting Things Back Together. It concludes that power structures must be redesigned from "the bottom up," with the effective assistance of transnational State-building institutions.

Given a phenomenon not limited to one region of the world, no library could possibly be complete without this riveting assessment of an area of concern that has been somewhat neglected in the academic literature. This topical collection by notable authors, from so many points on the compass, is an extraordinary gap filler for the dearth of comprehensive analyses of failed States.

Michael Byers & Georg Nolte (ed.), United States Hegemony and the Foundations of International Law (Cambridge: 2003) [531] 0-521-81949-0. Price: USD 95.

This book effectively poses the question "What if the contemporary international legal order imposed constraints on hegemonic behavior?" International Law has always been shaped by hegemonic powers. The question is whether the current US predominance is itself leading to a foundational change in the international legal order. (President Putin’s September 2004 pre-emptive strike policy announcement would be one example.)

This host of eminent scholars pursue six arenas in the quest to answer this book’s leading question. Part I analyses the influence of the US on the international legal community. Part II explores sovereign equality, and how the US is apparently more equal than the rest of this community. Part III on the post-Cold War use of force by the US analyses the law as bending, breaking, or evolving. Part IV on customary International Law considers the US role as developer of hegemonic customs, such as the pre-emptive strike version of the current self-defense debate. Part V on treaties reviews, inter alia, US reservations in the human rights arena as being maybe "all for one and none for all." Part VI on compliance assesses the impact of US non-compliance in International Law.

One cannot help but predict that this winning blueprint for objective realism will become the one of the favorites of international readers, because it graphically deconstructs the international community of nations’ dilemma with current US hegemony. It is "must" reading for all International Law scholars, diplomats, Statecraft participants, and lay persons who might not otherwise clutch the knowledge disseminated in this book.

Territory

Joshua Castellino & Steve Allen, Title to Territory in International Law: A Temporal Analysis (Ashgate: 2003) 0-7546-2224-X. Price: USD 109.95.

This refreshing assessment of an ancient doctrine, as it evolved through the ages, including contemporary applications, is a welcome addition to the relatively scarce scholarship. It addresses the legal tenets associated with uti possidetis (once you possess, so you possess, with no adjustments absent the approval of all parties). This cornerstone of title to land was thus asserted by colonizing powers after their withdrawal–for example, by the Spanish as they left behind entities designed to be relatively secure from separatist forces.

This Roman Law demarcation of territory, rooted in enduring sovereignty, has been quite controversial in the aftermath of European decolonization. The authors chart the evolution of this doctrine with their well-written and amply documented analysis of its various temporal phases, focusing on the current era of post-colonial rule. Their eight chapter assessment includes analyses of the following: its crystallization in modern post-colonial identity; impact of Roman property regimes on subsequent territorial acquisition; the Spanish-American application; African treaty regimes under colonial treaties; a number of case studies in the ICJ; the Badinter Commission and treatment of territory in the former Yugoslavia; and treatment of indigenous peoples’ territory under International Law.

Third World

Anthony Anghie et al. (ed.), The Third World and International Order: Law, Politics and Globalization (Martinus Nijhoff: 2003) [192] 90-411-2166-8. Price: USD 87.

The term "globalization" means different things to different people. This collection of nine perspectives represents the territorial frame of reference–specifically about a feature of International Law that impacts the Third World. These renowned scholars do not all agree on the content or direction of International Law. They are united, however, in their sense of an urgent need to enhance participation in the debate by people and States that are not necessarily "at the table." The common objective is to identify how International Law has often evolved in a way that subordinates the Third World; for example, by producing a body of scholarship which does not incorporate diverse voices within the scholarly community.

The nine offerings in this useful collection thus address the impunity of non-State corporate actors; gender (in)justice; a new international legal order; a Third World manifesto, needed because of the threat of "recolonisation;" territorial disputes regarding non-European land; Third World feminism; Third World resistance to the negative affects of globalization; and the International Law on foreign investment.

This particular collection provides invaluable insight for all of the following: any professor purporting to offer a balanced view of the content of International Law; any diplomat hoping to bridge rather than retain gaps; any scholar wishing to enrich the imagination of his or her readership.

Terrorism

Andrea Bianchi (ed.), Enforcing International Law Norms Against Terrorism (Hart: 2003) [549] 1-84113-430-9. Price: USD 120.

This work, consisting of nineteen essays by leading publicists, assesses the degree to which conventional enforcement measures can be relied upon to control contemporary terrorism. The transnational profile of modern terrorist organizations, the traditional methods employed to react to them, and other unparalleled developments, all cast doubt on the ability of the existing legal and political terrorism for adequately coping with this scourge.

Part I commences this rich collection of masterfully written essays by analyzing the reasons for the alleged inadequacies and the quest for effective responses. Part II assesses the interplay between the various layers of legal authority, in terms of State, regional, and organizational responses. Part III presents terrorism as an individual crime–in terms of jurisdictional and human rights problems. Part IV explores the economic face of terrorism, with its challenge to law enforcement mechanisms. Part V concludes with an overall assessment of both achievements and prospects for effective enforcement in the future.

Wolfgang Benedek & Alice Yotopoulos-Marangopoulos (ed.), Anti-Terrorist Measures and Human Rights (Martinus Nijhoff: 2004) [391] 90-04-14073-5. Price: USD 162.

Some post-911 counter-measures of States and international organizations have violated recognized human rights norms. These new regimes have been enacted without regard to obligatory procedures, and permissible derogations, which were in place long before that emergency. The first half of this book is a symposium of some twenty scholars regarding various dangers, including a world where the pre-emptive strike doctrine prevails.

Part One of Three analyzes UN, European, and national anti-terrorist measures–contrasted with human rights documents that are the framework for derogations from human rights in such emergencies. A shorter Part Two then assesses those preventative measures and human security. Part Three contains thirteen annexes. This half of the book conveniently assembles the relevant documents referenced in the Part One analyses.

Editor’s Note: The combined availability of the two books reviewed in this section would provide an ideal contribution to any collection designed to focus on the underlying problems with reacting to terrorism, how to place them in contemporary perspective, and what should be done to pursue the sometimes competing objectives of security and liberty.

Trade

Judith Czako, Johann Human & Jorge Miranda, A Handbook on Anti-Dumping Investigations (Cambridge: 2003) [543] 0-521-83042-7. Price: USD 95.

The growing tension and attention to anti-dumping procedures illustrates the need for a concise and authoritative guide. These WTO Counsellors have done an enviable job of fulfilling that need. This handbook thus presents the relevant WTO provisions, major problems in their application, and indispensable case studies for grasping the intricacies of this critical problem in contemporary international trade. No WTO practitioner, trade professor, or international-oriented library should overlook this resource for demystifying anti-dumping litigation.

Part I of III analyzes key WTO procedures, including the following: multilateral legal framework; the concepts relevant to investigations; the pre-initiation phase, actual anti-dumping investigation; and steps toward the preliminary and final panel determinations. Part II addresses dumping margin calculations, illustrated by two hypothetical case studies complemented by pages of companion flow charts. Part III presents the essentials of injury and calculation determinations. This part overviews matters including the review, evaluation, and questionnaire processes. It too contains a useful case study to further illustrate the book’s content. The closing Annexes present a sample application, sample dumping investigation questionnaire, sample injury investigation questionnaire, and the related WTO legal provisions.

Ross Buckley (ed.), The WTO and the DOHA Round: The Changing Face of World Trade (Kluwer: 2003) 90-411-9947-0. Price: EUR 110.

This collection of twelve individually authored chapters conveniently presents the gist of the WTO’s DOHA Round between two covers–in a vivid, flowing. and authoritative style. The essential theme is that the global trading system is at somewhat of a crossroads. Developing nations determined that this Round greatly favored the more developing nations. This collection therefore evaluates the prospects for either hegemonic DOHA implementation or WTO reform.

The chapters analyze the following theses: the US-dominated return to a unilateralist approach to trade relations; the ever-present need for a rules-based, not power-based approach; frustrations with developed nations’ access to various products; the continuing relevance of GATT & TRIPS to the lesser-developed countries; governance rules; the roles of the Secretariat as harmonizing trade relations; the disconnect between trade, the environment, an human rights; and the impact of AIDS and terrorism.

Treaties

Shirley Scott, The Political Interpretation of Multilateral Treaties (Martinus Nijhoff: 2004) [221] 90-04-13968-0. Price: USD 128.

Since WWII, the multilateral treaty process has been increasingly active. Resolution of the underlying problems has not been as noticeable. With a variety of inter-disciplinary influences in hand, this analysis conveys the subtle nuances related to the incomplete attainment of stated objectives, resulting from differences between treaty text and political context. This is a fascinating portrayal of a new analytical basis for assessing treaty interpretation.

Starting with Defining the Task, the author provides an authoritative account of schisms in the treaty process associated with Antarctic governance in the first four chapters of ten. After proposing a political theory of treaty interpretation, the author proceeds to illustrate it in the ensuing chapters on whaling, non-proliferation, hazardous waste management; and violence against women. This analysis is a welcome addition to the somewhat neglected realist-based scholarly agenda in the arena of treaty analysis.

Treatises

Shirley Scott, International Law in World Politics: An Introduction (Rienner: 2004) [paper: 325] 1-58826-199-9. Price: 24.95.

This is an excellent primer for International Relations courses, and all potential readers interested in the interplay of law and politics. It is adorned with a number of intriguing shaded textboxes. They offer reports and excerpts from other sources, thus contributing to the lively presentation offered in this handy textbook. It is a smooth and concentrated summary, providing the dual advantage of being a succinct and authoritative coverage of the ties between contemporary world events and the norms that supposedly govern them.

Its thirteen chapters address the following themes: the interlocking norms of International Law and world politics; States; organizations; non-State actors; infrastructure of International Law; legal argument as political maneuvering; the treaty and its evolution; arms control; human rights; humanitarian law; and the future role of International Law in world politics.

United Nations

Erika de Wet, The Chapter VII Powers of the United Nations Security Council (Hart: 2004) [413] 1-84113-422-8. Price: 120.

The UN Security Council’s Chapter VII powers were the subject of great interest in the comparatively active period after the demise of the Cold War. This book yields a comprehensive study of UNSC powers. Early chapters focus on what is effectively judicial review of Charter-based limitations via ICJ’s the advisory and contentious opinion process. The middle bulk of the book analyzes limits on the powers of the UNSC. The author concludes that the limits on the Council’s powers could be enforced by judicial review. This intriguing analysis of the contemporary work of the Council is well-written, well-supported by ample references to research authorities, and organized in a way which logically leads to its raison d’Ltre.

After several opening case studies (Lockerbie and Bosnia v. Serbia), Part I on Judicial Review addresses ICJ advisory opinions as a form of judicial review, and that such review is an emerging general principle of law. Part II then analyses limitations on the Council’s power to act, within the confines of Chapter VII.

This is a provocative and fascinating contribution to the dearth of comprehensive literature on the potential for judicial review of UN Security Council action. When I first received it for review, I almost yawned at the prospect of someone attempting to assert the case in favor of Charter-based judicial review of limitations on UNSC action. I quickly awoke, however, and now believe that this is undoubtedly a "must" for all collections. Any student or teacher of International Law and the United Nations should obtain this creative analysis. It fills a gap that many have heretofore not minded.

Armin von Bogdanady & Rudiger Philipp (ed.), Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law: Volume 3: 2003 (Martinus Nijhoff: 2004) [747] 90-04-13819-6. Price: USD 194.

This is the third volume in the authoritative annual chronicle of UN developments by this most-respected institution. This Yearbook provides a forum wherein individual authors, who are widely-read experts in their respective fields, provide their analyses in a way that reflects the major developments and innovations spawned by the UN legal process during the given year.

This third volume contains articles which include the following: the combined impact of September 11^th and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq–as they have spawned the need to reconsider the rules on use of force; classification and creation of States; Security Council reformation; regional integration under GATT; and seven analyses of distinct features of the International Criminal Court.

As with prior issues, Volume 3 contains book reviews on timely and provocative work products. Like the first volume, this one is also a veritable researcher's dream. All international libraries should stock this series, which is proving to be an invaluable asset, as the work of the UN–and its reform–evolves.

° United Nations Publication: Catalogue 2004 (UN: 2004) [paper: 124]