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International Law
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What is International Law?

International law governs the rules, norms, and principles that regulate relations between sovereign states and other international actors. It appears across law school curricula as well as political science, international relations, and public policy courses. What makes it academically compelling is the tension at its core: a legal system that must coordinate the behavior of independent nations without a single overarching enforcement authority. Topics such as the use of force, diplomatic immunity, human trafficking, and the role of the United Nations give students rich material to examine how law functions — and sometimes fails — at the global level.

The papers archived on this topic reflect a wide range of analytical approaches. Some tackle structural and enforcement problems, questioning whether international law can genuinely constrain state behavior when compliance depends on political will. Others take a case-study approach, examining specific controversies such as Israeli settlement policies or diplomatic immunity to test broader legal principles. Several papers engage policy analysis by exploring how governments and international bodies respond to issues like human trafficking or the use of force, while others take a more theoretical stance on whether true universal jurisdiction exists in state practice.

A strong essay on international law needs a focused thesis that goes beyond summarizing rules — it should take a clear position on how law shapes or fails to shape state conduct. Evidence drawn from treaties, United Nations resolutions, and documented state practice carries the most weight. The most common pitfall is treating international law as monolithic; effective essays acknowledge where significant disagreement among nations exists and engage with that complexity directly.

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Research Paper Undergraduate
Reform and relevance of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunity
Is the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Diplomatic Immunity in need of reform?
Paper Undergraduate
Cyberwars: understanding virtual battlefield attacks and defense in the 21st century
Cyberwars: The Virtual Battlefield of the 21st Century
Paper Doctorate
U.S. and Israeli relations and the Oslo Accords
Since the end of World War II, the Arab Israeli conflict has been increasingly brought to the forefront. As U.S. foreign policy has continued to focus on addressing this underlying conflict that has been taking place.
Paper Undergraduate
Pursuing global business and marketing through Babson College's dual concentration
¶ … transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve.
Research Paper Undergraduate
The Cuban Revolution and United States Cold War intervention
Nationalism, economic, social, political.
Research Paper Undergraduate
U.S. failure to protect gay and lesbian Iraqis from torture
Torture and Abuse of Gays and Lesbians in U.S. Occupied Iraq
Paper Undergraduate
State sovereignty and human rights violations in international law
¶ … sovereignty a good thing or a bad thing?
Paper Undergraduate
Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gang as transnational security threats
This study focuses on the two predominantly Latino Gangs, Mara Salvatrucha (aka MS-13), and the 18th Street Gang operating on the streets of communities across America. This study is significant because it will provide a snapshot in time concerning how these violent gangs operate in this country in ways that can inform and alert both civilian society and government agencies concerning optimal responses to the problem created by these gangs. Through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of documentary evidence and governmental statistics about the Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gang, this study developed several conclusive findings on the negative effects of these groups in the United States. The Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gang are becoming transnational criminal organizations given the fact that they originated in Central America and Mexico and have since expanded their operations abroad. Despite efforts by national and international law enforcement to curtail these gangs' criminal behaviors, they maintain their ties with their gang associates in these countries. Moreover, gang members engage in criminal activities that were highly organized. They also moved through networks that continued to gain sophistication. Drug trafficking, gun running, violence, robbery, extortion are some of the heinous crimes committed by these groups. These gangs disturb peace and order in the community, destroy personal properties and endanger the lives of citizens. These two gangs may establish an organized criminal enterprise capable of coordinating illegal activities across national borders. Nonetheless, with complete disregard to the laws of this land including immigration laws, these groups are considered a threat to the security of the country, but this level is considered comparable to any highly organized street gang that supports its activities with criminal enterprises. In sum, , the dangers posed by Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street as well as other comparable criminal organizations should not be underestimated.
Paper Doctorate
Stalin's Great Purges and the question of dictatorial control
The ghost of Stalin will circle the earth for a long time to come… Almost everyone has renounced his legacy, but many still draw their strength from him. -- Milovan Djilas
Paper Doctorate
Confucianism and Western influence in the construction of Meiji masculinity
¶ … Japanese history attribute Meiji masculinity to the peculiar customs of the Meiji period, its specific characteristics of the Emperor, and, in some related way, its association with the Western world.