Law and lawyers in international crises

Abstract

Among its recent activities American Society of International Law has sponsored a number of study panels on various topics and problems of contemporary interest in international law and organization. These panels are composed principally of scholars but have a sprinkling of government and private practitioners. They meet perhaps twice a year for day-long discussions which, in this reviewer's experience, frequently inspire commitments from participants to undertake research and writing projects for future meetings. The result has been an impressive explosion of scholarship, much of it published under Society's auspices. One such panel, created in 1967 with fourteen members, was to examine the role of international law in governmental decision-making for war-peace crises. The Study Panel, as it is referred to in these pages, soon embarked on an ambitious research program under chairmanship of Harvard Law Professor Roger Fisher. Fisher is well known outside of international legal studies as much for his endeavors on behalf of Anguilla as for International Conflict and Behavioral