ASIL Programs > International Law Studies

Through ASIL's International Law Studies program, ASIL functions as a think tank that provides high level analysis to help further understanding of international law.

Studies in Transnational Legal Policy
The Studies in Transnational Legal Policy are monographs published by ASIL which contain analyses by leading authorities on the international law aspects of significant issues in world affairs. The series can be found here.

ASIL Task Force on U.S. Policy Towards the International Criminal Court
In the fall of 2008, the American Society of International Law convened a blue-ribbon task force to examine the U.S. relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ASIL Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward the ICC will study the Court’s work to date, review current U.S. policy toward the Court, and develop recommendations that can inform the U.S. approach toward the Court. More info

ASIL Joint Task Force on Treaties in US Law
On March 25, 2008, the Supreme Court held in Medellin v. Texas that the International Court of Justice’s March 31, 2004, Judgment in the Case Concerning Avena and Other Mexican Nationals, while creating an international legal obligation applicable to the United States, does not create binding federal law enforceable in U.S. courts and that the President does not have the constitutional authority to mandate that a state comply. Medellin appears to merge the question of whether a treaty is enforceable in federal court with the question of whether that treaty is binding federal law, stating that non-self-executing treaties are neither. More info

ASIL Insights
ASIL Insights provide decision makers, the general public, and members of the legal profession around the world with brief, balanced accounts and analyses of significant legal developments and newsworthy events involving international law. Insights are accessible objective non-advocacy pieces written by academics and practitioners to keep the general public informed on international law. Click here for a free subscription.

Topics addressed by ASIL Insights may include but are not limited to the following: Development and International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, International Institutions, International Security, Science and Technology, Trade and Investment, and Transnational Litigation and Arbitration.  

Discussion Paper Series
The ASIL Discussion Paper Series, launched in 2008 under the auspices of ASIL Programs, is a collection of cutting-edge research papers by leading international law practitioners and scholars in order to facilitate a better public understanding of the international relations and foreign policy dimensions of timely issues of international law and practice. The Discussion Paper Series examines key issues of international law and their international and foreign policy implications in eight areas:  human rights and humanitarian law, international development, international security, reform of international institutions and organizations, science, technology and the environment, trade and investment, transnational litigation and arbitration, and women in international law. More info

"Old Rules, New Threats" Roundtable Project
ASIL has cosponsored a roundtable project with the Council on Foreign Relations co-chaired by Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University and former ASIL President, and Lee Feinstein, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy and International Law and Director for Strategic Policy, Council on Foreign Relations. Named after Anne-Marie Slaughter's essay, "Old Rules, New Threats," for the July/September 2002 ASIL Newsletter which observed two fundamental approaches to policy questions raised since September 11, 2001, the purpose of the roundtable was "not just to talk, but to engage different points of view in a genuinely constructive dialogue to provide a strong political and legal basis for action."

Tillar House Sabbatical Fellowship
The Tillar House Sabbatical Fellowship is intended to provide ASIL members with a Washington, D.C. institutional home during a sabbatical or other leave from their regular positions. Fellows are engaged in independent research in the field of international law and to contribute periodically to relevant ASIL Tillar House briefings and publications (such as ASIL Insights, International Law in Brief, and International Legal Materials, and the Discussion Paper Series). Fellows also serve as resident advisors on other ASIL activities within their field of expertise. More info