In an international context marked by the emergence of new global threats and the difficulties faced by the international community in providing effective responses, the importance of international law extends beyond the search for regulatory solutions; it also encompasses the education and training of new generations of jurists. While much debate has focused on the need to reform international law itself, far less attention has been devoted to the equally pressing necessity of rethinking the role of the international law teacher in the face of these new challenges.
From this original perspective, this valuable work edited by Peter Hilpold and Giuseppe Nesi takes shape. Drawing on the contributions of renowned international lawyers, the volume recentres the scholarly debate in international law around the role of the teacher. It does so not through a self-congratulatory celebration of the academic profession but, rather, by offering a critical and constructive examination of the opportunities and challenges inherent in teaching public international law. Aimed primarily at teachers of international law, though equally relevant for all international lawyers, the book unfolds through several interconnected parts. Following an Introduction by the editors, Part II on the global perspective sets out the broader international context of teaching international law. Part III on national and regional perspectives and new methodological approaches offers insights into how international law is shaped and taught across different jurisdictions. Building on this, Part IV delves into the pedagogical approaches tailored to specific areas of the field. The discussion continues in Part V on tools, instruments and resources, which provides practical guidance and materials for teaching and researching international law. The volume ultimately culminates in a series of reflections by the editors, tying together the themes explored throughout the book.
The book reaffirms and strengthens the normative and moral function that teachers of public international law can exercise within the international legal order. It adopts an approach that emphasises the institutional role of the teacher in today’s global framework. Hilpold, Focarelli, Petersmann and Wouters highlight the essential responsibility borne by teachers in the face of contemporary challenges confronting humankind. Teachers must therefore remain mindful of their duty to uphold and transmit the fundamental values of the international order, such as the promotion of peace, the protection of human rights and the pursuit of sustainable development. As Ku and Dellavalle argue, this task requires innovative approaches, including continuing education and interdisciplinarity. In his contribution, Ziegler underscores the need to ensure high-quality teaching in international law and proposes concrete solutions to achieve this goal.
Another recurrent theme is the book’s call for international law teachers to move beyond the ‘ivory tower’ into which the academic world of public international law too often retreats. In their chapters, Nesi, Ronzitti and Dupuy emphasise the added value that practical experience brings to teaching. Too often, the separation between academia and practice is treated as an unwarranted dogma—one that not only diminishes the pedagogical quality of international law courses, but also fosters academic self-referentiality, thereby limiting the academic discipline’s tangible impact on the practice of international law.
The book also incorporates specific domestic perspectives, although all originating from the same jurisdiction, as reflected in the contributions of Wolfrum, Hirte and Morgenthaler, alongside insights on teaching different branches of public international law, notably through the chapters of Petersmann and Lavranos, and from related fields, as outlined by Marchetti. While the volume cannot, for practical reasons, encompass every possible national, regional or sectoral viewpoint, this approach underscores the importance of not treating the teaching of international law as an abstract issue but, rather, of recognising the diverse implications that shape its practice in both domestic and sectoral contexts.
A more practice-oriented section features contributions by Beham, Fink, Janik, Summers and d’Argent, who address concrete tools for teaching international law, while drawing attention to a crucial but often overlooked issue: the generational gap that tends to develop between international law teachers and their students as the former advance in age. The book also offers a comprehensive overview of the existing literature on teaching international law by Lixinski and includes a dedicated contribution by Krzan on Manfred Lachs and his seminal work The Teacher in International Law (Martinus Nijhoff 1987).
The editors have successfully coordinated these diverse contributions, ensuring not only originality and high quality in both style and substance, but also a fluid and coherent narrative throughout the volume. This achievement is all the more remarkable given the breadth of the subject-matter and the diversity of perspectives represented. Indeed, the interaction among contributors within a single, coherent framework represents one of the book’s distinctive strengths compared to previous studies on the subject. The volume provides international law teachers with innovative insights and practical ideas for addressing many of the critical challenges facing the field today, with the potential to generate a broad and concrete impact.
From a scholarly perspective, the book not only represents the state of the art in the emerging legal theory of teaching international law but also serves as a starting point for further studies that may enrich and expand upon the numerous aspects explored in Hilpold and Nesi’s work. From a pedagogical standpoint, it offers a wealth of reflections capable of providing input for improving the teaching of international law while also reaffirming its social and normative function in sustaining the common values and goals that underpin modern international law.
Ultimately, the book represents not only an innovative and exceptionally high-quality contribution, but also a value-laden manifesto for the ‘invisible college of international lawyers’ with the potential to shape positively the pedagogical science of international law for decades to come.
