This volume contains original essays by 18 of the world's leading scholars and practitioners of international relations and international law. Together they address the question of the role that international law plays in international politics at the turn of the century. Both theoretical and political in its scope, the book examines the character of international rules and norms, the way in which they develop, and how they affect political decision-making in a variety of contexts including international peace and security, international economic relations, international human rights, international development, and the environment.