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1951. Sophisticated Constructivism in Human Rights Compliance Theory

Author:
Elizabeth Stubbins Bates
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>In recent decades, there has been an increase in the volume and sophistication of works on compliance theory in international law in general,1 and in human rights in particular.2 This body of work is interdisciplinary, influenced by political science and international relations in substance and method.3 The typology of compliance theories, once formed of several separate strands,4 coalesced into two duelling perspectives. These were broadly characterized by rational choice approaches, focused on hegemony, sanctions, incentives, and material self-interest, with Andrew T. Guzmans addition of reputational concerns;5 and constructivist approaches, which argue that repeated interactions, argumentation, and exposure to norms characterize and construct state practice.6 Each of the three works reviewed in this essay critically engages with constructivist research and incorporates some analysis of material incentives, suggesting that constructivism is eclectic and rigorous, willing to debate its own assumptions. Taken together, their contributions are evidence of modern constructivisms sophistication and methodological breadth./p

1952. A Dictionary of Maqiao – In Medias Res

Author:
Hanne Sophie Greve
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>Lazy (as Used by Men) ... Ive often realized, not without a sense of disquiet, that talking isnt easy, that my words often propagate all kinds of misunderstandings once theyve flown out of my mouth. Ive also discovered that even a powerful propaganda machine lacks absolute controlling power over understanding and, similarly, sinks repeatedly into the mire of ambiguity ... hed been an employee of the Country Film Company but had been relieved of his duties due to his exceeding the birth quota. It wasnt that hed failed to comprehend the consequences of exceeding the birth quota: ... After Id spoken with him, after Id turned it over endlessly and uncomprehendingly in my mind, there was only one conclusion I could draw: he operated on another vocabulary system, one in which a great many words transgressed ordinary peoples imaginings. For example, violating law and order wasnt necessarily a bad or an ugly thing to do quite the contrary, violating law and order was a proof of strength, a privilege of the strong, a crucial source of happiness and glory./p

1953. Friedrich Kratochwil. The Status of Law in World Society: Meditations on the Role and Rule of Law

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>When Fritz Kratochwil published his classic Rules, Norms and Decisions in 1989, it was reviewed by an obviously bewildered David Bederman in the American Journal of International Law. Clearly, it seemed, here was something international lawyers should take note of, but equally clearly, Bederman, no intellectual slouch by any standard, had a hard time figuring out what made the book relevant, or even just interesting, for international lawyers. It seems Bederman was expecting something along the lines of a description of the role of law in global politics, but no such story unfolded. Instead, Rules, Norms and Decisions posited not a description, but a way of looking at the role of norms in international politics, and did so unlike much of what had gone on before: this was neither a variation on realism, nor riding the wave of institutional liberalism, nor anything like the New Haven approach or sociological jurisprudence or Henkin- style behaviouralism. As it turned out, Rules, Norms and Decisions became the closest thing to a manifesto of constructivism in the study of world politics, and therewith became pigeonholed as one of the three grand theories of international relations.</p>

1954. Isabel V. Hull. A Scrap of Paper. Breaking and Making of International Law during the Great War

Author:
Oliver Diggelmann
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>Isabel V. Hulls book aims to demonstrate that post-1919 writings have contributed to obscuring rather than clarifying international laws role in how World War I was fought. She develops an original and highly differentiated view on the topic. On the basis of thorough historiographical research, she analyses the belligerents legal views put forward during the war and examines their effect on the conduct of war. The title takes up a quotation that later became a clich about international laws role in World War I. Immediately after the German attack on Belgium, the German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg called the treaty guaranteeing Belgiums neutrality a scrap of paper. This might suggest that World War I was a time of non-existence for international law, a black hole. Hulls book demonstrates how complex the legal situation predominantly was and that the course of the war was closely interlinked with legal questions and arguments./p

1955. Mark Levene. The Crisis of Genocide. Volume I: Devastation. The European Rimlands 1912–1938. Volume II: Annihilation. The European Rimlands 1939–1953

Author:
Peter Hilpold
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>There is surely no dearth of studies on genocide, but Mark Levene, a reader in history at the University of Southampton and an expert in genocide research, has demonstrated that it is still possible to add a thorough study to the enormous library already existing on this subject. True, some of Levenes basic assumptions may be contested in academia but this does not detract from the value of his enormous research projects outcome. Already on the first page of his monumental study he clearly states its basic assumption: according to Levene, genocide is not an aberrant phenomenon in modern history but integral to a mainstream historical trajectory of development towards a single, global, political economy composed of nation states (vol. I, at 1). He sees the cases of genocide as a consequence of a more general Great Power conflict and the breakdown of the great multinational states, the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg Empire, and the Russian Empire of the Romanovs./p

1956. Marc Jacob. Precedents and Case-based Reasoning in the European Court of Justice: Unfinished Business Valériane König. Präzedenzwirkung internationaler Schiedssprüche: Dogmatisch-empirische Analysen zur Handels- und Investitionsschiedsgerichtsbarkeit [The precedential effect of international arbitral awards: Doctrinal and empirical analyses of the Commercial and Investment Arbitration]

Author:
Niels Petersen
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>The concept of precedent has not received much attention in international law scholarship to date. International courts and tribunals are usually not formally bound by previous decisions. Nevertheless, there is no denying that precedents play a significant role in the practice of international courts. Courts cite and rely on previous decisions in order to lend their arguments more force. Two recently published studies aim to shed more light on this tension in the use of precedents: while Marc Jacob analyses precedents in the case law of the European Court of Justice, Valriane Knig examines the precedential effect of decisions in international arbitration. Both books not only analyse the same concept in different contexts, they also have a common methodological point of departure. They rely to a certain extent on an empirical analysis. They construct a database of decisions and draw several quantitative and qualitative inferences from this database. They thus contribute to a laudable trend in international law scholarship towards a greater focus on empirical analyses, even though the extent and the informational value of the quantitative analysis are limited in both cases./p

1957. A Pronunciation Lesson

Author:
Jonathan Shaw
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Not hi ROSH ima – Everything before and after the central rush of spit mere prelude and pathetic aftermath

1958. Sleepwalking Again: The End of the Pax Americana 1914–2014; After Gaza 2014: Schabas; Peer Review Redux; In this Issue

Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
I think it is difficult to contest that the most important state player in world affairs over the last one hundred years – and consistently so over this period – has been the United States of America. World War I – into which, to borrow from Christopher Clark's justly celebrated book, we 'sleepwalked' – marks a useful starting point. It is not only the fairly important role America played in bringing WWI to an end that signals the beginning of this era, but also the no less important role it played in shaping the aftermath. Wilson's 14 points were considered at the time 'idealistic' by some of the yet-to-be 'Old Powers'. But by dismantling the Ottoman Empire through the principle of self-determination (not at that time a universal legally binding norm) it was an early swallow to the demise, a mere generation later, of all other colonial empires and the truly decisive reshaping of the balance of power in the post-WWII world. The US played an equally cardinal role in ideating and realizing the United Nations Organization and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – two lynchpins of our current world order.
Topic:
Human Rights and War
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Gaza

1959. The Emergence of Functionalism in International Institutional Law: Colonial Inspirations

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The theory of functionalism dominates the law of international organizations, explaining why organizations have the powers they possess, why they can claim privileges and immunities, and often how they are designed as well. Yet, the theory of functionalism is rarely spelt out in any detail, and its origins have remained under-explored. The purpose of the present article is to outline how functionalism came about by focusing on the 'pre-history' of international institutional law. To that end, the article studies the work of a number of late 19th, early 20th century authors on the law of international organizations, paying particular attention to the writings of Paul Reinsch. It turns out that functionalism, as developed by Reinsch, was inspired by his familiarity with colonial administration: colonialism and international organization both manifested cooperation between states. While this is no reason to discard functionalism, it does provide an argument for viewing international organizations more critically than functionalism habitually does.
Topic:
Law

1960. Over-stating Palestine's UN Membership Bid?An Ethnographic Study on the Narratives of Statehood

Author:
Michelle Leanne Burgis-Kasthala
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This study employs a select ethnography of Palestinian workers in the field of international law and human rights to explore how an epistemic community gives content and meaning to international law in its professional and personal life. Through a series of interviews conducted in the West Bank in the wake of the Palestinian attempt to gain full United Nations membership in September 2011, the article constructs a meta-narrative about the nature of international legal discourse as spoken on the Palestinian periphery. It shows how speakers of international law are required to restate or over-state the distinction between law and politics so as to sustain their hope and desire for Palestinian statehood in the face of despair about its protracted denial. The article then is an exploration about the politics of meaning making through international law and a call for methodological hybridity within the discipline of international law.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Politics, and United Nations