A framing case study describes the 2018 surge of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel from continental Europe to the UK in small boats to seek refugee status. The chapter then discusses international migration law. The chapter begins by presenting important concepts and historical trends from migration law, and the competing models of economic migration and crisis migration. It then describes in detail major components of the Refugee Convention, which sets international rules for determining whether an individual can be a refugee, creates rights for refugees, and shapes subsequent outcomes for individuals who are denied or lose refugee status. Finally, the chapter examines how international migration law interacts with topics discussed earlier in the book, including: law of the sea, human rights, armed conflict, criminal law, and environmental law.

A framing case study compares military action involving two hospitals in two different wars: an Israeli raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in November 2023, and Russia’s bombing of Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Ukraine in July 2024. Then the chapter examines the law of armed conflict. The chapter first discusses major principles of armed conflict and the historical evolution of treaty law. It next discusses protected people by describing how international law distinguished between civilians and combatants, and how this law provides certain protections to each group. The chapter then discusses various laws regulating military conduct, including: how states choose targets; methods of war; weapons; and the rules of belligerent occupation. Finally, the chapter briefly surveys the specialized rules that apply to non-international armed conflict.

Posters, presentations, and publications are the three main ways to circulate your research for feedback and dispersion. Each has strengths and weaknesses. Posters require you to be concise and graphical, but they allow extensive interaction with the audience. Fortunately, powerful software designed for presentations facilitates good graphic design even for novices. Presentations, on the other hand, can be somewhat longer and less graphic than posters, but they also come at the cost of more limited audience feedback. Finally, publication is the usual end-state of a piece of research; its strengths are its permanence and circulation, but its costs for undergraduates often include significant time for revisions, delays in publication, and weak feedback from reviewers. Options for continued study and involvement in political science research include master’s degrees, which are typically more applied and policy oriented, and PhD (doctoral) programs, which are research oriented.

A framing case study examines Chinese militarization of the Spratly Islands, located in the South China Seas. Then the chapter provides an overview of the law of the sea. The chapter discusses: (1) the historical evolution of rules that govern the sea, including principles of customary international law; (2) how states have used modern treaties to create zones of authority, including maritime zones, water rights, and seabed rights; and (3) how states resolve maritime boundary disputes.

A framing case study examines Russia’s 2007 cyberattacks on Estonia. Then the chapter examines how states break international law. The chapter first discusses the law of state responsibility, including: (1) determining responsibility by assessing attribution and wrongfulness; and (2) the consequences of state responsibility, such as cessation, prevention, and reparation. The chapter then examines various theoretical accounts of why states break international law, including the enforcement, managerial, and flexibility perspectives.

A framing case study describes the Paris Climate Agreement and the worldwide movement to combat climate change. The chapter then discusses international environmental law. The chapter first discusses important concepts from environmental law, its historical evolution, and major principles. It then describes how states have attempted to protect the environment in the realm of the atmosphere, water, and living resources. Finally, the chapter examines how international environmental law interacts with topics discussed earlier in the book, including: trade, investment, human rights, and armed conflict.

The transition from research question to theory is a crucial part of producing a good empirical research paper. A good theory explains patterns in data with a well-articulated “because” clause that specifies a causal mechanism linking the independent variable to the dependent variable. A good theory also identifies the scope conditions and assumptions under which it operates. Developing your theory, articulating definitions of its concepts, and fully explicating its causal mechanism are key components of this process; these are critical for later stages. This is part of why the theory is such an important part of empirical research: without a carefully-thought-out theory, empirical research doesn’t make much sense.