International Law and International Politics - Foundations of Interdisciplinary Analysis examines analytical and practical aspects of the relationship between international law and international politics providing, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of the foundations on which both the international legal system and international politics rest.
With an interdisciplinary perspective, Birmingham's Dr Alexander Orakhelashvili compares and contrasts the methods of international legal reasoning with international relations as a discipline, focusing on timeless and central issues that connect the past, present and future, moving away from paradigms and embracing the foundational system as it is in reality.
The book examines, through the use of both disciplines’ methodology, some more specific areas such as public authority, global space, and peace, with the overall outcome that political contempt towards the international legal system could have unexpected and costly adverse political consequences. Grounded in political realism, the book contains detailed critique of liberal, constructivist and contractarian narratives of international affairs.