An effective terrorism alert system in a federal government has one central task: to motivate actors to take costly protective measures. The United States' color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) failed in this mission. In federal systems, national leaders cannot compel protective actions by setting an alert level; they must convince constituent governments and private parties that the desired actions are worth the costs. Such beliefs can be generated either by sharing the information behind an alert or by developing enough confidence in the alert system that the government's word alone suffices. The HSAS did neither, largely because it was not designed to generate confidence. Rather, the system's creators assumed that the public would trust the national leadership and believe in the utility of the system's information. Over time, as the HSAS became increasingly perceived as politically manipulated, there was no built-in mechanism to recover confidence in the system. An alternative, trust-based terrorist alert system could solve this problem. Building on the notion of "procedural fairness" from the psychological and legal traditions, this system would retain the political advantages of the HSAS, facilitate greater compliance among the requisite actors, and ameliorate many of the strategic problems inherent in terror alert systems.

The threat of the use of weapons of mass destruction by terrorist groups is perhaps the gravest threat confronting the international security system. In 2004, the United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII, adopted Security Council Resolution 1540 (UNSCR 1540). UNSCR 1540 calls on UN member states to enact legislation and to take effective measures to prevent non-state actors, and terrorist groups in particular, from obtaining weapons of mass destruction. UNSCR 1540 also obligated states to report on measures they have taken to fulfill the substantive requirements of the resolution. In addition, UNSCR 1540 established an ad hoc committee ("the 1540 Committee") to receive states' reports and in turn to report to the Security Council on implementation of the resolution. In 2006, the 1540 Committee's initial two-year mandate was renewed for another two years.

UNSCR 1540, as administered by the 1540 Committee, has largely been effective in encouraging states to provide detailed descriptions of the domestic legal authorities and administrative structures they have in place to address the threat of WMD proliferation. Additional progress can and should be made by the Security Council and the 1540 Committee, however, to ensure that the maximum nonproliferation and security benefits that might be produced by UNSCR 1540 are achieved. Our recommendations address implementation, adaptation, international cooperation and assistance, information sharing and assessment, and organizational implications.

Thoroughly updated to keep pace with the many new developments in international law, the Fifth Edition of this popular casebook covers the core topics, basic doctrines, and a broad range of foreign policy issues relevant to the contemporary public international law course.

Proven in the classroom, clearly organized, and with a distinctively accessible style, International Law offers

• a comprehensive and effective blend of current issues and materials with basic international law principles and concepts
• a balanced combination of relevant cases, excerpts, notes, questions, and other interdisciplinary materials representing a variety of perspectives and disciplines
• an analysis of the relationship between international and domestic law and public and private law
• treatment of such substantive topics as International Dispute Resolution, Criminal Law, Human Rights, Environmental Law, and the Use of Force
• a complete teaching package, including a Teacher's Manual and a biannual Document Supplement
• Reflecting the many recent developments in this area of the law, the Fifth Edition features:
• a new co-author, Allen S. Weiner, who brings extensive first-hand knowledge of international legal institutions
• a new chapter on International Criminal Law that includes current materials on extradition and rendition, the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, torture, and the emergence of international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court
• new cases, including Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon, Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, American Insurance Assoc. v. Garamendi, Republic of Austria v. Altmann, Case Concerning Israel s Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (International Court of Justice), and Prosecutor v. Krstic (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia)
• an updated case study in Chapter 1 on the international law and policy implications of the September 11 attacks and the U.S. and world response to the attacks and to terrorism in general, with other materials on the war on terrorism throughout the book
• expanded treatment of active areas of litigation, including the Alien Tort Statute and suits against foreign government officials and state agencies
• an extensive updating of the European Union sections, including the implications of the addition of twelve new member states and the failure to pass the new Constitution
• major revisions to the environmental law chapter that reflect the rapid developments in this area e.g., the Kyoto Protocol and efforts to combat global warming

Table of Contents

1. What Is International Law?
2. The Creation of International Norms Treaties, Customary Law, International Organizations, and Private Norm-Creation
3. International Law in the United States
4. International Dispute Resolution
5. States and Other Major International Entities
6. Foreign Sovereign Immunity and the Act of State Doctrine
7. Allocation of Legal Authority Among States
8. International Human Rights
9. Law of the Sea
10. International Environmental Law
11. Use of Force and Arms Control
12. International Criminal Law