Politics and law appear deeply entwined in contemporary international relations. Leading scholars accordingly advance a new perspective on the politics of international law in this volume. They redefine the nature of politics and demonstrate how modern politics has conditioned the nature of international law. This new perspective is illustrated through case studies of the use of force, climate change, landmines, migrant rights, the International Criminal Court, the Kosovo bombing campaign, international financial institutions, and global governance.

1. Introduction Christian Reus-Smit; 2. The politics of international law Christian Reus-Smit; 3. When states use armed force Dino Kritsiotis; 4. Soft law, hard politics, and the Climate Change Treaty Robyn Eckersley; 5. Emerging customary norms, and anti-personnel landmines Richard Price; 6. International law, politics, and migrant rights Amy Gurowitz; 7. The International Criminal Court David Wippman; 8. The Kosovo bombing campaign Nicholas Wheeler; 9. International financial institutions Antony Anghie; 10. Law, politics, and international governance Wayne Sandholtz and Alec Stone Sweet; 11. Socety, power, and ethics Christian Reus-Smit.