The Life and the Death of States

This course embarks on a journey following an imagined sovereign state and accompanying it as we hold its hand from the moment of its birth until its very death. In this process, the course analyses multiple important issues of statehood, namely how states fight for their existence and recognition, how they act in their best interests in concluding treaties, how they accept and avoid responsibility, how they treat their own nationals, how they combat various existential threats on the way, and – eventually – how they vanish. With a final moment taken to reflect upon the possible redefining of statehood and, with it, the dawn of a new era for international law.