Basic Information
- Location- Hubbard Basement Seminar 22
- Times- TTh 2-3:30
- Office- Hubbard Hall Tower
- Office Hours- MW 2-3:30, TTh 11-12
- Phone- 725-3294
- E-mail: aspringe@bowdoin.edu
Introduction
Government 363 examines the complex relationship between international law and politics in two important and rapidly developing areas of international concern: humanitarian rights and environmental protection. We will discuss the challenge facing the international legal system not just to provide “order,” its traditional role, but to promote patterns of state and individual action that conform to broader conceptions of “just” behavior and that help achieve other collective goals. Examined will be the role of adjudicative and political institutions on both international and domestic levels, as well as the increasingly significant impact of non-state actors, like Amnesty International and Greenpeace, in the development and implementation of international law.
Government 363 is intended for students with substantial backgrounds in international relations, specifically in the area of international law and organization. Students will normally be required to have taken Government 260, 261 or 263 or the equivalent at another institution. The course is limited to 15 students; senior Government and Environmental Studies majors will be given preference in admission..
Readings
The following books are required for the course and are available through the Bookstore:
Thomas M. Franck, Fairness in International Law and Institutions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995)
Philip Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We will Be Killed with our Families/Stories from Rwanda (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998)
Christopher D. Stone, The Gnat is Older than Man: Global Environment and Human Agenda (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993)
Norman J. Vig and Regina S. Axelrod, eds., The Global Environment: Institutions, Law and Policy (Washington: CQ Press, 1999)
There is also a required course packet (also available from the Bookstore) and additional required readings will found via the course web page. Readings found in the course packet will be designated (P); those on the web will be labelled (W).
Requirements
Each student will prepare a major research paper (25-30 pages) on a topic to be approved by me as appropriate for the seminar. Students who are using Gov. 363 to fulfill an Environmental Studies requirement must plan to choose a topic with a clear environmental dimension. Paper proposals (3-4 pages) should be submitted no later than Friday, March 3 and must include:
* a “question” you wish to explore
* a descriptive outline of the paper
* a preliminary bibliography of at least 10 sources.
Papers will be presented to the class in early May.
Class participation is important to the seminar's success. Reading assignments must be completed before the class in which they will be discussed. Students are expected to attend all classes and to contribute regularly to class discussion. In addition, each of you will be expected to keep a journal and to complete a short (5-7 page) paper on a topic to be assigned later.
The approximate weighting of these requirements in determining your final grade is:
50%- research paper
20%- class participation, including presentation of your research paper
15%- journal
15%- assigned paper
Syllabus
I. General Issues
A. Course Introduction---1/25
B. A Lawyer’s Perspective: Thomas Franck and “Fairness” and International Law---1/27, 2/1, 2/3
Franck, Fairness in International Law and Institutions , pp. 3-139, 316-412, 477-484
II. International Humanitarian Law
A. Evolution of Int. Humanitarian Law---2/8, 2/10
Stephen R. Ratner, “International Law: The Trials of Global Norms,” Foreign Policy (Spring 1998), No. 110, pp. 65-80 (P)
Aryeh Neier, Brutality, Genocide, Terror and the Struggle for Justice (New York: Random House, 1998), pp. 12-107 (P)
John R. Bolton, "The Global Prosecutors: Hunting War Criminals in the Name of Utopia," Foreign Affairs (January/February 1999), Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. 157-164 (P)
Documents and websites:
Nuremberg War Crimes Trials
Charter of the Military Tribunal, Aug. 8, 1945
Justice Jackson's Report to the President on Atrocities and War Crimes, June 7, 1945
Statement by Justice Jackson on War Crimes Trials Agreement, Aug. 12, 1945
Judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Trial of German Major War Criminals
B. Ad Hoc Justice: The Hague and Rwandan Tribunals---2/15, 2/17
Gourevitch, We Regret to Inform You, entire
Theodor Meron, "Answering for War Crimes," Foreign Affairs (January/February 1997), Vol. 76, No. 1, pp. 2-8 (P)
Documents and websites:
Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Actions of the United Nations during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda- Dec. 15, 1999 (read through)
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, Statement on Receiving the Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Actions of the United Nations during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, Dec. 16, 1999
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
C. The Role of National Courts: The Pinochet Case---2/22, 2/27
Ricardo Lagos and Heraldo Munoz, “The Pinochet Dilemma,” Foreign Policy (Spring 1999), No. 114, pp. 26-39 (P)
Geoffrey Hawthorn, “Pinochet: The Politics,” International Affairs (1999), Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 253-258 (P)
“The Extradition Question,” transcript, On-Line Newshour, December 2, 1998
Andrea Bianchi, “Immunity versus Human Rights: Pinochet Case,” European Journal of International Law,” Vol. 10, No. 2
Documents and websites:
Kingdom of Spain v. Augusto Pinochet, Oct. 8, 1999
D. An International Criminal Court?- The United States and the Rome Treaty---2/29, 3/2
David J. Scheffer, "International Judicial Intervention," Foreign Policy (Spring 1996), No. 102, pp. 34-51 (P)
Ruth Wedgwood, "Fiddling in Rome," Foreign Affairs (November/December 1998), Vol. 77, No. 6, pp. 20-24 (P)
Jonathan I. Charney, “Progress in International Criminal Law?” American Journal of International Law (April 1999), Vol. 93, No. 2, pp. 452-464 (P)
Michael P. Scharf, “ Results of the Rome Conference for an International Criminal Court,” ASIL Insight (August 1998)
Documents and websites:
United Nations Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, “Rome Statute”
Coalition for an International Criminal Court (NGO)
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Hearings on Rome Statute (1998)
III. International Environmental Law
A. General Perspectives---3/7, 3/9
Stone, The Gnat is Older Than Man, entire
B. Changing Concepts of International Environmental Law: Trail Smelter---Gabcíkovo-Nagymaros Decision---3/14, 3/16
Vig and Axelrod, The Global Environment:
Norman J. Vig, “Introduction: Governing the Environment,” pp. 1-26
Marvin S. Soroos, “Global Institutions and the Environment: An Evolutionary Perspective,” pp. 27-51
John McCormick, “The Role of Environmental NGOs in International Regimes,” pp. 52-71
Edith Brown Weiss, “ The Emerging Structure of International Environmental Law,” pp. 98-115
Philippe Sands, “Environmental Protection in the Twenty-first Century: Sustainable Development and International Law,” pp. 116-137
Documents and websites:
ICJ, Gabcíkovo-Nagymaros Project (Hungary v. Slovakia), Decision (Sept. 25, 1997)
C. Responding to Global Climate Change---4/4, 4/6
Vig and Axelrod, The Global Environment:
Michael R. Molitor, “The United Nations Climate Change Agreements,” pp. 210-235
Robert L. Paarlberg, “U.S. International Environmental Policy Since Rio,” pp. 236-355
Henry Shue, “The Unavoidability of Justice,” in Andrew Hurrell and Benedict Kingsbury, eds. The International Politics of the Environment (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992), pp. 373-397 (P)
Richard N. Cooper- “Toward a Real Global Warming Treaty,” Foreign Affairs (March/April 1998), Vol. 77, No. 2, pp. 119-124 (P)
Stuart Eizenstat, “Stick with Kyoto: A Sound Start on Global Warming,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 1998), Vol. 77, No. 3, pp. 119-121 (P)
Documents and websites:
UN Framework Convention on Global Climate Change (May 9, 1992)
ECJ: Stichting Greenpeace Council v European Commission (April 2, 1998)
D. Liberalized Trade and Environmental Protection: A Clash of Values?---4/11, 4/13
Vig and Axelrod, The Global Environment:
Daniel C. Esty, “Economic Integration and the Environment,” pp. 190-209
Documents and websites:
World Trade Organization
- WTO, U.S.: Import Prohibition of Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products,
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E. “National” Issues of International Concern?---4/18, 4/20
Vig and Axelrod, The Global Environment:
Regina S. Axelrod, “Democracy and Nuclear Power in the Czech Republic,” pp. 279-299
Lawrence R. Sullivan, “The Three Gorges Dam and the Issue of Sustainable Development in China,” pp. 300-316
IV. Class Presentations
Web Resources
I plan to communicate with the class (e.g. update you on class assignments, answer questions) via e-mail. Please read your e-mail on a daily basis; you are responsible for being aware of any e-mail messages I send out!
I have provided a list of websites that may be of interest to students in this and related international relations courses. To find them simply press here.