The 12th Annual McLean Lecture at Pitt's School of Law To Discuss International Law and the Use of Force

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh School of Law's Center for International Legal Education and the World Federalist Association of Pittsburgh will host the 12th Annual McLean Lecture on World Law featuring Charlotte Ku at 6 p.m. Jan. 14 in the Barco Law Building's Teplitz Memorial Courtroom, 3900 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Ku is executive vice president and executive director of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and coeditor of Democratic Accountability and the Use of Force in International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2003).

The lecture, "International Law and the Use of Force: Assessing the Elements of Global Governance," is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception.

Ku serves on the board of directors for the International Judicial Academy and the governing board of the Stichting Foundation for Hague Joint Conferences. Past chair of the International Law Section of the International Studies Association, Ku holds the Ph.D. and Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Prior to joining the ASIL staff in 1990, Ku taught at the University of Virginia and at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center of the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. Ku also has worked on the legislative staff of the U.S. Senate and on the research staff of a foundation consortium in northern California. Since assuming her current position, Ku has led the society's program of outreach to the policy community and general public.

She has written extensively on key facets of international law, including international law and the use of force. Her most recent article, "When Can Nations Go to War? Politics and Change in the UN Security System," was published in the Summer 2003 edition of the Michigan Journal of International Law. The topics of her international law texts, journal articles, and conference papers range from the origins of international law to understanding global governance and how NGOs and the electronic age affect the dynamics of international law.

The McLean Lecture on World Law is held in honor of the legacy of Maclean W. McLean, a dedicated World Federalist founder and leader. Previous speakers include Steven M. Schwebel, president judge of the International Court of Justice; Fausto Pocar, judge for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and Benjamin Ferencz and Henry T. King, former prosecutors at the Nuremberg Tribunals.

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