Courses winter semester 2025/26

Lecturer	Prof. Dr. Dominik Steiger
Time and Place	Thursday (3), ABS/E08
Start	October 16, 2025
Eligible students	Students enrolled in the Bachelor's degree International Relations (mandatory for the^1st semester); students enrolled in the Master's degree International Relations (mandatory); students with a minor in Law
Content	This introduction to Public International Law will cover fundamental aspects of public international law, namely subjects and sources of international law, its relationship to municipal law, and fundamental principles, such as those of sovereign equality, non-interference, state immunity, the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, state responsibility, and the prohibition of the use of force, including its exceptions. The course will feature several case studies and discuss current debates. These will, among others, include the question of Palestinian statehood, the status of Crimea, international terrorism, and the disputed legality of humanitarian interventions.
Literature	Reading material will be provided. Further reading on fundamental principles of international law: Besson/Tasioulas, The Philosophy of International Law, OUP 2010; Fassbender/Aust (Eds.), Basistexte: Völkerrechtsdenken, Nomos UTB 2012.
Further information	The Course will be held in English. More information you will find under Opal

Lecturer	Prof. Dr. Dominik Steiger
Time and Place	Thursday (6), ABS/1-01
Start	October 16, 2025
Eligible students	Students enrolled in the Master's degree in International Relations, mandatory for the^1st semester
Content	This course will provide an overview of the institutional setup of the United Nations. With regard to substantive law, the course will especially focus on Chapter VII (prohibition of the use of force and its exceptions). We will engage with current challenges by looking into relevant case studies, e.g. Iraq or Syria. Also, lawmaking by the Security Council will be discussed. Furthermore, questions of the UN's responsibility, e.g. for the 2010 Cholera outbreak in Haiti and Chapter VI UN Charter (peaceful settlement of disputes) will form the subject matter of the course.
Literature	Relevant literature will be provided during the course.
Further information	The course will be held in English. More information you will find under Opal

Lecturer	Prof. Dr. Dominik Steiger
Preliminary meeting	13 October 2025, 11:10 via Zoom https://tu-dresden.zoom-x.de/j/69456837035?pwd=Mma4utIRbAIzI9y8BhZ3I3ZR1EOiaI.1
Time	Final presentation and seminar in January 2025
Eligible Students	Students enrolled in the Bachelor's or Master's degree in International Relations
Prerequesites	Fundamental knowledge in public international law
Content and Topics	You will find the list of topics here. For further information, please see the following Opal course.
Further information	The examination consists of a seminar paper and an oral presentation. The seminar is creditable for the module MA-IB-IO-IR. If required, credit can also be awarded for the specialization in the profile area (MA-IB-IO-WP-V).

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