The text below is excerpted from the introduction of “Book Review: The Restatement and Beyond: The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Foreign Relations Law,” available for download on SSRN.

Paul B. Stephan and Sarah H. Cleveland, Coordinating Reporters of the Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States, are to be commended. In addition to leading the daunting task of developing the first (but hopefully not last) installment of the Restatement Fourth, they have produced a valuable companion contribution. Their edited volume, The Restatement and Beyond: The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Foreign Relations Law, offers twenty-five essays by even more authors on a range of important topics, from the status of customary international law (CIL) in the U.S. legal system,¹ to international comity² and the immunities of international organizations,³ to the capacity of the Restatement to produce legal stability.⁴

The book is best approached topically. As the title suggests, the book’s coverage is broad, addressing issues related to both the Restatement and the broader past, present, and future of U.S. foreign relations law. Approached cover-to-cover, the volume reads something like a scatterplot with the Restatement as the trendline. Some essays focus closely on the Restatement Fourth but diverge as to whether they address the enterprise of formulating the Restatement or positions the Restatement has taken, or might take, on substantive questions. Other essays address foreign relations law topics without drawing a close connection to the Restatement. As to these chapters, the Restatement Fourth provided the moment, but not the organizing principle, for a discussion of foreign relations law questions. As a result, the volume provides wide-ranging content that will benefit both those interested in the Restatement enterprise and those interested in specific questions of foreign relations law.