This seminar focuses in depth of three sets of issues that have recently been the subject of international litigation and diplomacy as well as domestic litigation and legislation: The international use of force; international humanitarian law in a time of international terrorism; and the relationship between international law and domestic law as highlighted by disputes over the right to consular access by aliens in death penalty cases. On the consular notification question, it considers recent ICJ cases interpreting the consular notification obligations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and their implications for domestic criminal procedure. The class examines both the way the ICJ functions and the response of the Executive Branch, federal courts, and state courts to the ICJ's decisions. On the use of force, it reviews recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) cases involving the right of self-defense and the practice of the United Nations Security Council in considering resolutions related to the use of force. On the humanitarian law theme, the course examines international legal and political responses to humanitarian law violations, such as those in Bosnia and Sudan, as well as U.S. domestic litigation and legislation concerning the application of the law of war to the conflict with al Qaeda and other international terrorist groups as well as the treatment of persons captured in the conflict. Rather than considering these issues solely from a doctrinal perspective, the course explores the relationship of law, policy, and politics in the foreign policy-making process and looks in particular at the role of the lawyer in the foreign policy making process.