To test his theory, Cheng provides detailed case studies from recent events, ranging from the current global economic crisis to jihadist terrorism. This wideranging research demonstrates how his proposal for approaching international law would work in a real crisis, and sets this book apart from scholarship that focuses only on theory or isolated fields of international law.
Through a critical combination of theory and practice, When International Law Works gives policymakers, judges, arbitrators, scholars, and students practical and thought-provoking guidance on how to face new global problems. In doing so, this new book challenges readers to rethink the role of law in an increasingly crisis-driven world.

Chapter One: Confronting Anxieties About International Law
I. The Relevance and Irrelevance of Law II. Contemporary Debates III. Thesis A. The Central Case B. Effectiveness C. Legitimacy IV. Terms V. Outline of Inquiry VI. Conclusion
Chapter Two: The Politics of Theorizing
I. A Historical Survey II. Antiquity III. Middle Ages IV. Early Modernism V. Late Modernism VI. Post-Modernism VII. Choices in Theorizing VIII. Political and Normative Values in Theorizing IX. Conclusion
Chapter Three: Legalism and Morality
I. Framing the Inquiry II. Choices III. Legalism A. The UN Security Council B. International Court of Justice C. Conclusions About Legalism IV. The Morality of International Law A. Basic Values B. Moral Obligations C. Realist Critiques D. Liberal Critique E. Legal Obligations V. Guidance to Officials A. Morality B. Institutional Functions C. Effectiveness D. The Indeterminacy Paradox VI. Conclusion
Chapter Four: Judges
I. Theory A. Judicial Functions B. General Morality C. Specific Morality D. Effectiveness II. Praxis A. The Pedra Branca Case 1. Legalism 2. Morality 3. Effectiveness B. The Nicaragua Case 1. Legalism a. Provisional Measures b. El Salvador's Intervention c. Decision on Jurisdiction d. Merits 2. Effectiveness 3. Morality 4. Feedback Loops C. The Avena Case 1. Legalism 2. Effectiveness 3. Morality 4. Feedback Loops III. Conclusion
Chapter Five: Arbitrators
I. Theory A. Arbitral Functions B. General Morality C. Specific Morality D. Effectiveness II. Praxis. A. United States-Stainless Steel (Mexico), Implementing Award B. Loewen Group, Inc. v. United States of America C. CMS Gas Transmission Co. v. Argentine Republic, Decision on Annulment III. Conclusion
Chapter Six: Regulators
I. Theory II. Praxis A. The Global Financial Crisis B Responses and Decisions of Regulators C. The Financial Stability Board D. Guidance for Regulators III. Conclusion
Chapter Seven: Legal Advisors
I. Theory A. The Legal Advisor's Functions B. General Morality C. Specific Morality D. Interests and Effectiveness II. Praxis A. Abu Ghraib Prison B. Waterboarding 1. Factual Assumptions 2. International Legal Prescriptions 3. The Interrogation Memoranda 4. General Morality 5. Specific Morality 6. Guidance to Advisors 7. Alternative Scenarios III. Conclusion
Chapter Eight: Officials
I. Theory II. Praxis A. The 1990 Gulf War 1. Specific Morality 2. General Morality and Effectiveness 3. Feedback Loops B. NATO Bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1 General Morality 2. Specific Morality 3. Feedback Loops C. The 2003 Invasion of Iraq 1. General Morality 2. Specific Morality 3. Feedback Loops III. Conclusion
Chapter Nine: Law Beyond Laws
I. Reframing Debates II. Situating Among Theories III. Results from Case Studies IV. Conclusion

Tai-Heng CHENG, When International Law Works: Realistic Idealism After 9/11 and the Global Recession, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012 (364 pages)
Tai-Heng Cheng is Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Institute for Global Law, Justice, & Policy at New York Law School, and has been a visiting professor at Vanderbilt Law School.
An author of over forty books, articles and essays, Professor Cheng's research has been published in the University of Illinois Law Review, Temple Law Review, and the Michigan Journal of International Law. His scholarship has been cited and relied on as authoritative by U.S. federal circuit and district courts.
Professor Cheng is a member of the Executive Council of American Society of International Law, chairs its Awards Committee, and was co-chair of its 2011 Annual Meeting. He is also a member of the Executive Committee and Academic Council of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration, and a member of the American Law Institute.
Professor Cheng has served as tribunal chair, arbitrator, lead counsel and expert in ICSCID, UNCITRAL, ICDR, ICC, SCC, and JAMS arbitrations, and in U.S. and Canada court proceedings. He is a member of the panels of neutrals of the ICDR, CPR, and HKIAC. He has also advised the U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor and the Republic of Kosovo on international and comparative law.
Professor Cheng holds Doctor of the Science of Law and Master of Laws degrees from Yale Law School, where he was Howard M. Holtzmann Fellow for International Law. He also holds a law degree with First Class Honors from Oxford University.