Is International Law International” takes the reader on a far-reaching tour of the international legal field to reveal some of the patterns of difference, dominance, and disruption that belie international law's claim to universality.

Pulling back the curtain on the "divisible college of international lawyers," Anthea Roberts challenges the conception that international law is universal and that international lawyers exist in a single "invisible college”, exploring how international lawyers in different states, regions, and geopolitical groupings are often subject to distinct incoming influences and outgoing spheres of influence in ways that shape how they understand and approach international law.

Comparing different international law academies and textbooks, and using case studies and visual representations, Anthea demonstrates how Western approaches in general, and Anglo-American approaches in particular, have had a disproportionate influence in defining what counts as the "international", including examples of the way these influences manifest themselves in contemporary controversies, such as those relating to Crimea and the South China Sea.