Judging Iran: A Memoir of The Hague, The White House, and Life on the Front Line of International Justice

From a divided Berlin to The Hague, the Reagan White House, the forests of Costa Rica, and more, Judge Charles N. Brower shares a personal history of a life spent at the forefront of international justice — and a case for the role of law in preserving global peace.

A judge of the Iran – United States Claims Tribunal for four decades, Charles N. Brower is an internationally recognized leader in arbitration and has handled cases on six continents. With quick wit and a keen eye for adventure, he takes readers on a tour of his extraordinary career.

As a young lawyer fresh from Harvard, Brower quickly made partner at a Wall Street firm. After just four months, however, he left the expected path to join the U.S. State Department, embarking on a career that put him in the thick of Cold War Europe and led to a lifelong focus on international law.

Brower’s drive carried him to the heart of pressing issues, including globalization, governmental ethics, environmentalism, and human rights. At each stop, Brower encountered criminals and victims, advocates and miscreants, especially at the Iran – United States Claims Tribunal, where heated disagreements between judges once erupted into physical violence. His work at The Hague was interrupted only by his time as an advisor to President Ronald Reagan at the height of the Iran – Contra scandal, and Brower eventually became the most-appointed American judge ad hoc of the International Court of Justice.

Judging Iran is a frank insider account of the highest echelons of international law. As an active judge to this day, Brower offers a nuanced history of modern arbitration between nations, from our earliest concept of international law to today’s efforts for justice. And, as a global citizen, he argues that the law is essential in our work for peace.

"As legal memoirs go, this is a racy, readable, engaging and insightful narrative, spanning more than sixty years of legal and judicial practice, from a lawyer who has had a privileged vantage point into world events and the place of law within them." — Sir Daniel Bethlehem KCMG KC, Barrister, Twenty Essex, London and former principal Legal Adviser, UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office

"I recommend this memoir, elegantly written and highly readable, to all interested in better understanding the challenges besetting the settlement of international disputes, in particular to young lawyers aspiring to pursue a career in international litigation." — Peter Tomka, Judge and former President of the International Court of Justice

Charles Brower’s memoir vividly portrays the power of international justice and the inestimable value of an orderly dispute resolution system for international peace and security. — Abdulqawi Yusuf, Judge and former President of the International Court of Justice