About
Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law. His work focuses on Outer Space, Arctic sovereignty, climate change, the law of the sea, the laws of war, and Canadian foreign and defense policy. He is the co-director of the Outer Space Institute (OSI), a global network of space experts united by their commitment to highly innovative, transdisciplinary research that addresses grand challenges facing the continued use and exploration of space.
Dr. Byers has been a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University, a Professor of Law at Duke University, and a Visiting Professor at the universities of Cape Town, Tel Aviv, Nord (Norway) and Novosibirsk (Russia). He has also been a Senior Global Fellow at the University of St Andrews and a Fellow of the Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe “The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?” of the Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Universität Potsdam and Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin.
Dr. Byers’ most recent book is Who Owns Outer Space? International Law, Astrophysics, and the Sustainable Development of Space (Cambridge University Press), which he co-authored with Dr. Aaron Boley (UBC Physics & Astronomy). His previous book, International Law and the Arctic (Cambridge University Press), won the 2013 Donner Prize. Dr. Byers is a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail newspaper.
Teaching
Publications
Who Owns Outer Space? International Law, Astrophysics, and the Sustainable Development of Space (Cambridge University Press, 2023) (co-authored with Aaron Boley)
International Law and the Arctic (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Who Owns the Arctic? Understanding Sovereignty Disputes in the North (Vancouver/Toronto/Berkeley:D&M Publishing, 2010)
Intent for a Nation: What is Canada For? (Vancouver/Toronto/Berkeley: D&M Publishing, 2007)
War Law: Understanding International Law and Armed Conflict (London, UK: Atlantic Books, 2005)
United States Hegemony and the Foundations of International Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)
The Role of Law in International Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
Custom, Power and the Power of Rules (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999)