This book, edited by law professors, Gostin and Meier, offers a timely and accessible overview of global health law (GHL) in the post-COVID era and curates a collection of articles written by legal experts and practitioners addressing contemporary health issues. GHL, being concerned with the legal norms, processes, and institutions necessary to create conditions for health, extends beyond international health law, which governs the relations between nations. As such, the book’s release is particularly significant as 2025 unfolds with ongoing conflicts and while more than sixty-four countries prepare for national elections. These events will undoubtedly shape global politics and health outcomes, and the book serves as a powerful reminder that health is a political choice.

In an increasingly polarized world, coordinating international policy has become more challenging. Nevertheless, this work lays the groundwork for understanding the evolving landscape of global health and explores the expansion from state to non-state actors and maps the various global health institutions and the evolving legal norms that give expression and substance to GHL.

The book demonstrates how a rule-based global legal order founded on social justice, solidarity, and human rights can transform common aspirations into actionable policies. Law empowers the voiceless and powerless to demand accountability from governments as seen in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) crisis. However, while progress towards a fairer world often occurs gradually, its unravelling can happen swiftly. This recurring theme weaves throughout various global health concerns – from reproductive rights to health in conflicts – underscoring the central role of international law in global health governance. The book expertly navigates both the promise and constraints of GHL, revealing how health, as a political choice, manifests through social and economic structures. Accordingly, the book takes a pragmatic stance on the politicalization of health: rather than striving for immediate consensus on global health issues, it emphasizes the need to nurture long-term political interest through law using various platforms and actors.

The book exudes optimism yet critically examines the expanding field of GHL, recognizing the legacy of colonialism on its evolution. This self-reflective approach is both refreshing and welcoming, as it invites aspiring scholars and practitioners to critically reflect on global health issues to address structural determinants of health. Through this lens, the book sets forth a research agenda for further normative and empirical investigations in structural causes of ill-health such as gender-based violence and racism. As GHL grows as an intellectual field, recognizing the colonial origins of international infectious disease control regimes – which partly shaped the world’s COVID-19 response – underscores the need to amplify historically excluded voices in meeting contemporary health challenges. The book’s premise, that legal frameworks should be grounded in justice, makes it essential reading for policymakers and scholars seeking to achieve social justice through law.