In this, the revised text of her widely acclaimed lectures from the Hague Academy General Course in International Law, one of the leading international lawyers of her generation offers a personal view of international law. She demonstrates that there is an essential and unavoidable choice to be made between the perception of international law as a system of neutral rules, and international law as a system of decision-making directed towards the attainment of certain declared values.

She goes on to show how international law can be used to address difficult and unresolved problems, such as the allocation and exploitation of natural resources; the protection and definition of human rights; and the allocation of jurisdictional competence. Broad-ranging and thought-provoking, the book will be of value to all those seeking a better understanding of the interlocking concepts which go to make up international Law today.