This course will highlight the relationship between international law and international politics. Using tools common in political economy, this course will emphasize that trying to design international law without taking into account the actual preferences and constraints of international actors is fruitless, and that the enforceability of international agreements cannot be taken for granted. To make these ideas come to life, current international topics, like the issue of space law, the development of international human rights law, and law on Antarctica, will be addressed.