All ten of the living former U.S. State Department legal advisers from the Carter administration to that of George W. Bush examine the role international law played during the major crises on their watch.

Michael P. Scharf is the John Deaver Drinko Baker & Hostetler Professor of Law and Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. In February 2005, Scharf and the Public International Law and Policy Group, a nongovernmental organization he co-founded with Paul Williams, were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Scharf served in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State during the elder Bush and Clinton administrations. He is the author of more than seventy scholarly articles and twelve books, including The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was awarded the American Society of International Law's Certificate of Merit for the Outstanding Book in International Law in 1999, and Peace with Justice (with Paul Williams), which received the International Association of Penal Law Book of the Year Award for 2003.

Foreword: America's conscience on international law Harold Hongju Koh; 1. The compliance debate; 2. A brief history of L; 3. The path to L; 4. The Carter administration - Herbert J. Hansell; 5. The Carter administration - Roberts B. Owen; 6. The Reagan administration - Davis R. Robinson; 7. The Reagan administration and Bush administration - Abraham D. Sofaer; 8. The Bush (42nd) administration - Edwin D. Williamson; 9. The Bush (42nd) administration - Michael J. Matheson; 10. The Clinton administration - Conrad K. Harper; 11. The Clinton administration - David R. Andrews; 12. The Bush (44th) administration - William H. Taft IV; 13. The Bush (44th) administration - John B. Bellinger III; 14. State department legal adviser's roundtable; 15. Foreign legal adviser's roundtable; 16. Lawyering the treatment of detainees in the war on terrorism; 17. Conclusion.