The course provides an overview of the functioning of international law in the contemporary historical-political context. Through this realistic approach, the course analyzes topics of general theory, such as international subjectivity, the sources of law, the responsibility of States, the solution of disputes and the adaptation of the national legal system to the rules deriving from international law. At the same time, it provides an essential illustration of the international rules in some key areas of relations between States and between these and natural and legal persons, between including the law of the sea, the law of the environment, the protection of human rights and the law of the economy.