The project is a collaborative effort of the directors of the Max Planck Ins- tute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, research f- lows and friends of the Institute, as well as eminent members of the Law Faculty of the University of Heidelberg.

This is a collection of essays on the law of the sea and its interdependencies with other current legal issues of global importance, among them the relationship between global warming and law of the sea matters, the global commons and security issues.

Existing international law is capable to govern the "war on terror" also in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Contrary to the Israeli Supreme Court's view, international humanitarian law is not complemented by human rights law, but human rights law is - to some degree - complemented by international humanitarian law.