Author Description

Intended for students in international relations, international law, and US foreign policy courses, this book demonstrates how international law really functions in foreign policymaking in Washington. David Forsythe views politics as the driving force behind legal interpretation. Examining a series of controversies in public policy during the Reagan Administration - the clash of Star Wars with the ABM treaty, use of the Contras against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, the invasion of Grenada, refugee policy in the Western Hemisphere, and the payment of dues to the United Nations - he inquires into the interplay of international law and US foreign policy, stressing the political factors that make for obedience to, or violation of international law.