The recent decades have witnessed an unprecedented advance in international governance. On the one hand, European integration has progressed considerably, and its influence now extends far beyond its members and prospective accession countries. On the other, various legal instruments have invaded a space previously reserved only for domestic governments. Research in this area studies the emergence of international orders and governance structures and the mechanism of diffusion and operation of international norms in a comparative historical context.

Projects
• Global Administrative Law (Nico Krisch)
• Beyond Constitutionalism: The Pluralist Structure of Postnational Public Law (Nico Krisch)
• Multi-Level Governance and the State Monopoly of Force (Markus Jachtenfuchs)
• Institutional framework for and Criteria of International Justice (Ulrich K. Preuß)
• Constitutionalism Beyond the Nation-State (Ulrich K. Preuß)
• The Impact of Migrants' Voices in Europe - Migrants' Inclusion in the European Political Sphere (Anne Koch)
• Internationalization of Counter-Terrorism Policy: Effects on the Rule of Law (Christiane Kraft-Kasack)
• Regional Cooperation on Trans-Boundary Natural Resources (and Beyond) - A Factor for Political Stability and Socioeconomic Development? (Susanne Schmeier)
• Ethics, Law, and Security: Towards a Normative Evaluation of the Atrocities Regime (Dana Trif)
• The Politicization of International Institutions (Michael Zürn)

Publications
• Alexander Graser: Gemeinschaften ohne Grenzen? Zur Dekonzentration der rechtlichen Zugehörigkeiten zu politischen Gemeinschaften, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009.
• Anke Hassel: "The evolution of a global labour governance regime", in: Governance. An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 231-251, 2008.
• Markus Jachtenfuchs: "Institutionelle Struktur und Governance in der EU", in: Gunnar Folke Schuppert and Michael Zürn (eds.): Governance in einer sich wandelnden Welt (PVS-Sonderheft 41), Wiesbaden: VS, 383-400, 2008.
• Ulrich K. Preuß: "Equality of States. Its Meaning in a Consitutionalized Global Order", in: Chicago Journal of International Law 9(1), pp. 17-49, 2008.
• Ulrich K. Preuß: "Zur Architektur internationaler Gerechtigkeit", in: O. Kallscheuer and G. Kruck (eds.), Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 2008.
• Nico Krisch: "The Open Architecture of European Human Rights Law", in: Modern Law Review 71, 183-216, 2008.
• Nico Krisch: "The Security Council and the Great Powers", in: V. Lowe et al. (eds.): The Security Council and War, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 133-153, 2008.