Author: Liang Yunxiang
Publisher: Peking University Press, August 2025

Abstract

This book addresses a range of fundamental issues concerning international relations and international law since the advent of the modern world. It focuses on international legal rules most commonly applied in international relations—particularly those that are currently active, frequently used, and newly emerging alongside the development of international relations—and provides systematic analysis and discussion. The book covers topics including the evolution of international relations and the basic principles of international law; actors in international relations and subjects of international law; state power and basic rights of states; state fault and state responsibility in international relations; the emergence of new states or governments and issues of recognition and succession in international law; state jurisdiction over individuals and residents under international law; human rights issues in international society and international human rights law; jurisdictional space of states and territory under international law; the role of the oceans in international relations and the law of the sea; advances in aviation and aerospace technology and international space law; diplomatic and consular relations and related international legal regimes; international intercourse and treaties; and issues of war and peace in international relations.

Based on appropriate streamlining, revision, and supplementation of the original text, the second edition primarily adds three new chapters: The Role of International Organizations in International Relations and the Law of International Organizations; World Economic Development and International Economic Law; and The Emergence of Global Environmental Issues and International Environmental Law.

The purpose of writing and publishing this book is to advocate and emphasize the legalization of international relations—that is, resolving international relations through rules rather than violence. If this goal is realized, it will be a great blessing for humanity and for the world.

Author Biography

Liang Yunxiang is Professor at the School of International Studies, Peking University, and holds a PhD in Law. His research interests include Japanese politics and diplomacy, China–Japan relations, international law, and Northeast Asian international relations. His monographs include International Relations and International Law (Peking University Press, March 2012), Japanese Diplomacy and China–Japan Relations (World Knowledge Press, March 2012), and Japanese Politics, Economy, and Diplomacy in the Post–Cold War Era (Peking University Press, September 2000). His translations include International Relations Theory (Social Sciences Academic Press, August 2011), A Concise History of Japanese Diplomacy (World Knowledge Press, January 2009), Global Society and Peace Studies (Beijing Normal University Press, September 2007), World Politics in the Age of Globalization (China Social Sciences Press, February 2004), Asia’s Choices in the 21st Century (China Society Press, August 2003), Lectures on International Law (Nanjing University Press, July 2021), and An Outline of the Theory of Civilization (Peking University Press, April 2025).