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Karen J. Alter

Norman Dwight Harris Professor of International Relations

B.S.: Cornell University, 1988; Ph.D.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996
Curriculum Vitae

Interests

Research Interest(s): Global Capitalism and Law; Multilateralism; International Law; International Courts; Law and Politics

Program Area(s): International Relations; Comparative Politics

Regional Specialization(s): Latin America; Europe; Africa

Subfield Specialties: Comparative Historical Analysis; International Organizations and International Law; Law and Politics

Joint Appointment

Legal Studies

Program of African Studies

Northwestern School of Law (by courtesy)

Biography

Karen J. Alter is the Norman Dwight Harris Professor of International Relations and Professor of Political Science and Law, and co-director Research Group on Global Capitalism and Law at Northwestern University. A longtime specialist on the politics of international law and international courts, and the politics of international regime complexity, Professor Alter has conducted research in Latin America, Africa and Europe. Alter’s newest research focuses on the construction of global economic rules regulating trade and money, how China’s rise is influencing international relations, backlash politics, and US Export Control Politics. From August 2023-July 2024 Professor Alter served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Bureau of Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce, sponsored by a CFR International Affairs Fellow for Tenured IR Faculty. Alter is author or editor of six books and more than seventy articles and book chapters on the politics of international law, comparative international courts, and international regime complexity. Alter is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, a former Guggenheim Fellow, winner of the Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin, and winner of the American Society of International Law’s Certificate of Merit for a Preeminent Contribution to Creative Scholarship

Books  Book Cover: The New Terrain of International Law by Karen Alter

  • International Court Authority with Laurence R. Helfer and Mikael R. Madsen Eds (Oxford University Press, 2018)
  • Transplanting International Courts: The Law and Politics of the Andean Tribunal of Justice with Laurence R. Helfer (Oxford University Press, 2017)
  • The New Terrain of International Law: Courts, Politics, Rights (Princeton University Press, 2014)
  • Oxford Handbook on International Adjudication (Oxford University Press, 2014) (co-editor with Cesare Romano and Yuval Shany)
  • The European Court’s Political Power (Oxford University Press, 2009)
  • Establishing the Supremacy of European Law (Oxford University Press, 2001)

Select Publications


Courses taught

Undergraduate level

  • PS 101: The Rule of Law Around the World
  • PS 343: The Politics of International Law
  • PS 347: Ethics and International Affairs
  • PS 395: International Organizations and National Policy
  • PS 398: Honors Thesis Seminar

Graduate level

  • PS 440: International Relations Theory
  • PS 442: International Organization
  • PS 443: International  Law and International Politics

Law School

  • International Courts and Tribunals

Awards

  • Provost Award for Exemplary Faculty Service, 2023
  • Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured IR Faculty, 2023
  • Board of Lady Managers of the Columbia Exposition Chair, 2018-2021.
  • Certificate of Merit for a Preeminent Contribution to Creative Scholarship, American Society of International Law, 2015.
  • Best Book, ILAW Section of the International Studies Association, 2014.
  • Honorable Mention Chadwick F. Alger Prize for the best book published on the subject of international organization and multilateralism. International Studies Association, 2014.
  • American Academy Berlin Prize, 2012.
  • John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, awarded in the field of law, 2011.