International Law in Comparative Perspective. Edited by William E. Bytler

What might a "comparative perspective" upon international law mean, or reveal? The phrase evokes the tradition of "Comparative Law" with its related methods and purposes. That tradition is rooted in the study of national legal systems. Scholars within one such system explore another or several others--a cross-cultural inquiry serving both practical and broad scholarly aims.

However illuminating, these explorations cannot be viewed as indispensable to the study of national law. They stand at the periphery rather than core of most students' or scholars' concerns. Does a "comparative method" within international law serve a similarly confined purpose? Or should we understand it as more central and pervasive a phenomenon, even vital to a threshold inquiry into the nature, norms and processes for development of international law?

Such are the questions stimulated by this useful book.