Human Choice in International Law

Human Choice in International Law is an exploration of human choice in international legal and political decision making. This book investigates the neurobiology of how people choose and the history of how personal choice has affected decisions about international peace and security. It charts important decision moments in international law about genocide, intervention into armed conflict and nuclear weapons at the central institutions of the international legal order. Professor Spain Bradley analyzes the role that particular individuals, serving as international judges or Security Council representatives, play in shaping decision outcomes and then applies insights from neuroscience to assert the importance of analyzing how cognitive processes such as empathy, emotion and bias can influence such decisionmakers. Drawing upon historical accounts and personal interviews, this book reveals the beauty and struggle of human influences that shape the creation and practice of international law.

Anna Spain Bradley is Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Professor of Law at University of California Los Angeles. She is an award-winning international law scholar, educator and expert specializing in international dispute resolution, international human rights and global racism. A Vice President of the American Society of International Law, she received the Society's Francis Lieber Prize for excellence in scholarship and the OZY Educator Award. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Spain Bradley has previously served as an attorney-adviser at the US Department of State, a US delegate and a Legal Expert to the United Nations, and counsel for state parties before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders International.