International law has a huge impact on everyday life, but often only specialists are aware of that. The goal of this book is to make international law accessible for all people interested but not (yet) being such experts. It is an invitation to Discover International Law, and to see how it links to major challenges of today's world. A second goal of the book is to highlight and explain the long-standing relationship between international law and the City of The Hague, "an epicentre of international justice and accountability" in the words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Describing international law as it is and discussing trends and barriers, the authors draw optimistic conclusions in the end, despite the fact that putting international law into practice is in many ways an uphill struggle. They reach their conclusions by looking at international law as part of the 'ongoing civilization of relations between states'. Analyzing a range of topics, they also make clear that international law serves as a domain that tackles 'problems without passports' in increasing interaction between people(s), states, the civil society (NGOs, trade unions, religious groups) and companies, all that being supported and critically followed by the academic community.

The authors are professors (Willem van Genugten and Nico Schrijver) and a Ph.D. student (Daniela Heerdt) in the field of international law. They have extensive experience with rule of law projects around the globe.