Barbara Koremenos

Barbara Koremenos is a professor of World Politics in the Department of Political Science. Her main interests are in international law and international institutions. She has published extensively on these topics in edited books, book chapters, and refereed journals such as International Organization. She is one of the editors of Rational Design: Explaining the Form of International Institutions. The main argument of this book is that international organizations vary widely in key institutional features such as membership, scope, and flexibility because international actors are goal-seeking agents who make certain institutional design choices to solve specific cooperation problems they face in different issue-areas.  Using a Rational Design approach, the book explores several features of institutions and explain their variation in terms of independent variables that characterize cooperation. Contributors to this volume then evaluate a set of conjectures in specific issue areas. 

Professor Koremenos is currently working on a book manuscript that centers on American exceptionalism in international Law. Prior to coming to Michigan, she taught in the Political Science Department at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Courses Taught

• Intersection of International Law and International Relations (graduate)
• International Law and Cooperation (graduate)
• Public International Law (undergraduate)

Affiliation(s)

• Center for Political Studies

Field(s) of Study

• International Law and Institutions
• Political Economy
• Public Policy and Administration