Includes bibliographical references and index.

The nature and function of international law -- Sources of international law: provenance and problems -- Participants in the international legal system -- Allocating competence: jurisdiction -- Exceptions to jurisdictional competence: immunities from suit and enforcement -- Responding to individual needs: human rights -- Self-determination -- Natural resources and international norms -- Accountability and liability: the law of state responsibility -- The United Nations -- Dispute settlement and the International Court of Justice -- The role of national courts in the international legal process -- Oiling the wheels of international law: equity and proportionality -- The individual use of force in international law -- The use of force by the United Nations.