Is International Law International ?

"I enjoyed reading this book tremendously and have kept coming back to the staggering view of the international law world it offers over again. I am very serious when I say that nothing in the field will be quite the same after this book has been published. It is such an eye-opener." Martti Koskenniemi, Professor of International Law, University of Helsinki, and Director, Erik Castrén Institute of International law and Human Rights, Finland "According to a common stereotype, international lawyers are cosmopolitans. In this truly remarkable inquiry, Anthea Roberts shows that their cosmopolitanism remains hostage to a world of nation-states. For Americans in particular, it ought to be disturbing to learn how parochial international law in their country remains. International lawyers across the spectrum in the United States emerge from a particular intellectual sociology, from professionalization in their practice, even when they speak in a universalist voice—in the languages they (do not) learn, to the textbooks they use, and from the foreign affairs and national security law from which they approach the field, to the concrete positions on matters such as humanitarian intervention they take. Roberts has written a masterpiece." Samuen Moyn, Professor of Law, Yale Law School, United States "This book is a must-read for every international lawyer and negotiator. It thoroughly deconstructs the notion that there is a uniform college of international lawyers who ail think alike. It helps us to reflect on our own background and the frame within which we think, and to also recognize and understand the 'others.' This is of utmost importance at a time when international legal cooperation is threatened." Anne Van Aaken, Professer for Law and LL0110111ICS, Legal Theory, Public international Law, and European Law, University of St. Galien, Switzerland