Introduction to Contemporary International Law: A Policy-Oriented Perspective (Revised) - Paperback

by Lung-Chu Chen (Author)

An Introduction to Contemporary International Law: A Policy-Oriented Perspective introduces the reader to all major aspects of contemporary international law. It applies the highly acclaimed approach developed by the New Haven School of International Law, holding international law as an ongoing process of authoritative decision-making through which the members of the world community identify, clarify, and secure their common interests. Unlike conventional works in international law, this book is organized and structured in terms of the process of decision making in the international arena, and references both classic historical examples and contemporary events to illustrate international legal processes and principles.

Using contemporary examples, this Third Edition builds on the previous editions by contextualizing and dramatizing recent events with reference to seven features that characterize the New Haven School approach to international law: participants, perspectives, arenas of decision, bases of power, strategies, outcomes, and effects. This new edition highlights cutting-edge ideas in international law, including the right to self-determination, the evolution of Taiwan statehood, the expanding scope of international concern and the duty of states to protect human rights, the trend towards greater accountability for states and individual decision-makers under international law, and the vital role individual responsibility plays in the emerging field of international criminal law. It offers a new generation the intellectual tools needed to act as responsible citizens in a world community seeking human dignity and human security for all people.

Author Biography

Dr. Lung-chu Chen is an internationally recognized scholar and Professor of Law at New York Law School, specializing in international law, human rights, and the United Nations. He previously served as Research Associate, Senior Research Associate, and Senior Research Scholar at Yale Law School. He received his LL.B. with first-place honors from National Taiwan University, his LL.M. from Northwestern University, and his LL.M. and J.S.D. from Yale University. While still a junior at the National Taiwan University, he ranked first of some four thousand participants in Taiwan's national examination for judgeship and other high governmental posts-a unique distinction in Taiwan's history.
He is founder and chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation (a think tank), founder and president of the New Century Institute (New York), and charter president and honorary president of the Taiwan United Nations Alliance (TAIUNA). He is a board member of the Policy Sciences Center, a former president of the Taiwanese Society of International Law, and a former national policy adviser to the president of Taiwan.

Formerly he was also chairman of the section on international law of the Association of American Law Schools, a member of the executive council of the American Society of International Law, a director of the American Society of Comparative Law, and a member of the editorial board of its journal (American Journal of Comparative Law). He was chief editor of Human Rights, published by the American Bar Association Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities. In addition, he served as vice president and a member of the governing council of the International League for Human Rights and president of the North America Taiwanese Professors' Association. He was a principal lecturer at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, a training center for human rights experts founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner René Cassin.

His publications include Membership for Taiwan in the United Nations: Achieving Justice and Universality (editor), An Introduction to Contemporary International Law, Human Rights and World Public Order (with Myres S. McDougal and Harold D. Lasswell), and Formosa, China, and the United Nations (with Harold D. Lasswell). In addition, he has written and edited numerous books and articles in Chinese. Currently he is general editor of a series of books relating to the U.N. system published under the auspices of the Taiwan Institute for U.N. Studies, a project of the Taiwan New Century Foundation. He is also editor in chief of New Century Think Tank Forum, a quarterly in Chinese published jointly by the Taiwan New Century Foundation and the New Century Institute.