Abstract

This chapter addresses four crucial and related questions. First, how far have the disciplines of international law (IL) and international relations (IR) progressed along the path of cooperation charted nearly two decades ago by such celebrated scholars as Kenneth Abbott and Anne-Marie Slaughter? Second, what theoretical approaches from IL and IR have been most effectively exploited by inter-disciplinarians? Third, what substantive questions seem to have been most productively addressed in an interdisciplinary context? Finally, what lies ahead for IL/IR interdisciplinarity?

To help answer these questions, the chapter briefly highlights major developments in the interdisciplinary literature, identifying key books, edited volumes, articles, and special issues of journals. In addition, it reviews how scholars of IL and IR have themselves characterized the current state of affairs. It also offers important insights into the nature and challenges of the interdisciplinary enterprise.