International Organizations Politics, Law, Practice

As international organizations become ever more prominent in global politics it is increasingly urgent to understand their power, their limits, and their effects. Now in its fourth edition, this leading textbook provides the definitive introduction to modern international organizations, from the legal charters of their beginnings, to the issues they engage with in the contemporary world. In his analysis of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the International Criminal Court and ten other prominent global institutions, Hurd combines legal, empirical, and theoretical approaches in an accessible and cohesive package. Fully revised and updated, this latest edition includes topical cases and controversies involving international organizations, such as Brexit, trade wars, environmentalism, forced migration and border disputes. It will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in international organizations, international institutions, global governance, and international law.

1. Introduction to international organizations; 2. Theory, methods, and international organizations; 3. The United Nations I: law and administration; 4. The United Nations II: international peace and security; 5. The World Trade Organization; 6. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; 7. The International Labor Organization; 8. Refugees and international migration: UNHCR, the IOM, and the 1951 Convention; 9. The International Court of Justice; 10. The International Criminal Court; 11. The European Union and regional organizations; 12. Conclusion.

Ian Hurd is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Weinberg College Center for International and Area Studies at Northwestern University, Illinois. His other books include How to Do Things With International Law (2017) and After Anarchy: Legitimacy and Power in the UN Security Council (2007), which won the 2008 Chadwick F. Alger Prize, International Studies Association. He co-edited the Oxford Handbook of International Organizations (2017) and The UN Security Council and the Politics of International Authority (2008).