Akehurst's Modern Introduction to International Law - Paperback

by Alexander Orakhelashvili (Author)

First published in 1970, Akehurst's Modern Introduction to International Law rapidly established itself as a widely used and successful textbook in its field. Being the shortest of all the major textbooks in this area, it continues to offer a concise and accessible overview of the concepts, themes, and issues central to the growing system of international law while retaining Akehurst's original positivist approach that accounts for the essence and character of this system of law.

This new tenth edition has been further revised and updated by Alexander Orakhelashvili to take account of multiple latest developments in the field, accounting for over forty-five decisions of international and national courts, as well as a number of treaties and major incidents that have occurred since the ninth edition of this textbook was published.

Based on transparent positivist methodology and with a distinctive cross-jurisdictional approach which opens up the discipline to students from all backgrounds, this engaging, well-structured, and reputable textbook will provide students with all the tools, methods, and concepts they need to fully understand this complex and diverse subject.

It is an essential text for all undergraduate and postgraduate students of international law, government and politics, and international relations.

Author Biography

Alexander Orakhelashvili (LLM Leiden, PhD Cantab), Professor at the University of Birmingham, UK, has taught and researched public international law at four British universities over the past twenty-five years. He is a frequent speaker at international conferences and events on developments in public international law, and has given invited papers at the events and conferences held in the UK, the USA, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Japan. He has provided legal advice regarding public international law issues in litigation before English and American courts. Apart from Akehurst, his publications include ten books, including seven sole-authored monographs: Peremptory Norms in International Law (2006), The Interpretation of Acts and Rules in Public International Law (2008), Collective Security (2011), Domesticating Kelsen: Towards the Pure Theory of English Law (2019), International Law and International Politics: Foundations of Interdisciplinary Analysis (2020), Causation in International Law (2022), The Essence and Reality of Statehood: Effectiveness, Recognition and Legitimacy (2025), as well as three edited collections and more than ninety articles and book chapters in leading journals and edited collections.