Search

21221. Beyond Particularism: Remarks on Some Recent Approaches to the Idea of a Universal Political and Legal Order

Author:
Sergio Dellavalle
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Daniele Archibugi. The Global Commonwealth of Citizens: Toward Cosmopolitan Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008. Pp. 298. $29.95. ISBN: 9780691134901. Anthony Carty. Philosophy of International Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. Pp. 255. $80.00. ISBN: 9780748622559. Andrew Hurrell. On Global Order: Power, Values, and the Constitution of International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Pp. 354. £65.00. ISBN: 9780199233106. Peter Niesen, , Benjamin Herborth (eds.). Anarchie der kommunikativen Freiheit. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2007. Pp. 765€16.00. ISBN: 9783518294208. Mortimer N. S. Sellers. Republican Principles in International Law: The Fundamental Requirements of a Just World Order. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Pp. 266. £65.00. ISBN: 9781403997449. Helen M. Stacy. Human Rights for the 21st Century: Sovereignty, Civil Society, Culture. Stanford (California)Stanford University Press, 2009. Pp. 260. $21.95. ISBN: 9780804760959. Abstract Theories of global order are traceable back to two main paradigms, particularism and universalism, the first of them asserting that true global order is a chimaera, the second affirming that a worldwide political and legal system securing peace and human rights protection is both desirable and feasible. Against this background, the article analyses some recent contributions to the question of the conditions for the establishment of a worldwide system guaranteeing peaceful and cooperative interaction. The authors of the books under review share the commitment to the universalistic view, but substantiate it by resorting to distinct theoretical presuppositions. By outlining the different frameworks, the article presents the books being discussed as inspiring inputs on the way to the renewal of universalism at the beginning of the 21st century.
Topic:
Human Rights

21222. Mark Mazower. No Enchanted Palace: The End of Empire and the Ideological Origins of the United Nations

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
International lawyers have long held international organizations in high esteem. Paul Reinsch, arguably the first author to write comprehensively on the law of international organizations about a century ago and largely responsible for laying the foundations for the functionalist approach to international organizations, already welcomed them as working for the common global good. The sentiment culminated in Nagendra Singh's classic statement that organizations serve the 'salvation of mankind'. States were considered bad; organizations, by contrast, were considered inherently good.
Topic:
United Nations

21223. Thomas Grant. Admission to the United Nations, Charter Article 4 and the Rise of Universal Organization

Author:
Anne-Laurence Brugère
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
'Every constitution encounters the difficult problem of distinguishing interpretation and adaptation, progressive development and amendment'. The question whether, and to what extent, the practice of an organization does not merely interpret but also modify its constitutive instrument lies at the very heart of Thomas Grant's volume on Article 4 of the United Nations Charter. The volume, divided into seven chapters, is based on a thorough account of the United Nations' practice from 1945 onwards in the matter of admission, from the 'early years' (Chapter 2) to the present day controversies over Kosovo and Taiwan (Chapters 5 and 6). Grant highlights perfectly the shift in 1955–1956 from a rigorous process over admission to the presumed right of states to membership; that is to say, from the wartime alliance to the universal organization (Chapter 3). This, in turn, raises the question of the legal justification for this change, a key issue addressed in Chapter 4 which this book review will concentrate on. The legal framework applicable to admission is examined in the first and last chapters. Chapter 1 intends to give an overview of the provisions of the Charter governing admission, though it deals exclusively with the procedural mechanism set out in Article 4(2). As for Chapter 7, it examines the legal con - sequences for a state of being admitted to the United Nations.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
Taiwan and Kosovo

21224. Elena Conde Pérez. La denuncia de los tratados. Régimen en la Convención de Viena sobre el derecho de los tratados de 1969 y práctica estatal

Author:
Christina Binder
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Treaties are the major legal instruments governing inter-state relations and an indispensable tool for diplomacy: since 1945 some 54,000 treaties have been registered with the United Nations, still representing only about 70 per cent of treaties which have entered into force.
Topic:
United Nations

21225. Brian D. Lepard. Customary International Law. A New Theory with Practical Applications

Author:
Niels Peterson
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The theory of customary international law is one of the big mysteries of international law scholarship. Every student of international law knows what customary law is. And yet, nobody knows what it actually is. Article 38(1)(b) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice defines custom as consistent state practice coupled with an opinion iuris . Although legal scholarship has filled whole libraries trying to come up with a set of rational criteria to identify these two elements, there remain many open questions. In his new book on Customary International Law, Brian Lepard intends to advance legal scholarship in the search for answers. He promises to 'develop a new theory of customary international law that . . . helps to solve its theoretical and practical puzzles' (at 11–12).

21226. Ulrich Haltern. Was bedeutet Souveränität? Toni Erskine. Embedded Cosmopolitanism. Duties to Strangers and Enemies in a World of 'Dislocated Communities' Jeffery L. Dunoff and Joel P. Trachtman (eds.). Ruling the World? Constitutionalism, International Law, and Global Governance

Author:
Ekaterina Yahyaoui Krivenkno
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Two notions constantly re-emerge in present-day research on issues arising under the general heading of constitutionalization of international law: sovereignty and cosmopolitanism. The former is regarded as being rather an impediment to the projects of international constitutionalism, the latter as a distant future goal, but both to be reinterpreted and readapted to modern realities and aspirations of researchers engaged in the theorization of international constitutionalism.

21227. Cosmos Assessed

Author:
Eric Stein
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
All is well In heaven and hell And …

21228. Editor's Note

Author:
Ihsan Dagi
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Turkey's history of democratization is also a history of constitutional amendments. This is so because the last two Turkish constitutions of 1961 and 1982 were penned under the military regimes. As such, a restrictive civil rights regime and institutionalization of the power of the unelected bodies vis-à-vis representative organs characterized these military-made constitutions.
Political Geography:
Turkey

21229. Turkey's Role in the Middle East: An Outsider's Perspective

Author:
Volker Perthes
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Owing to a changing geopolitical environment and a new foreign policy approach, Turkey's policies towards and role in the Middle East have undergone substantial changes since 2003. The most important facets, from a European perspective, are Turkey's efforts to improve relations with its direct Middle Eastern neighbors, and to play a mediating role between different, sometimes quite difficult, players in the Middle East. In general, Turkey has been more successful in improving its relations with proximate neighbors than in settling disputes between other states and non-state actors in the Middle East. As long as Turkey maintains good relations with all players in the Middle East and understands the limitations to its role, it can substantially contribute to positive change in the Middle Eastern landscape. This will also allow more coordination and cooperation between Turkey and the EU with regard to their overlapping Mediterranean and Middle Eastern neighborhoods.
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

21230. United States and Turkey: Allies at Odds?

Author:
Robert Wexler
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Much has been said and written about US-Turkish relations recently. The main reason for that is the fact that the relations have gone through a difficult period when clear disagreements over several issues have emerged. The “flotilla incident” and Turkey's “no” vote at the United Nations Security Council as a nonpermanent member of the Council have given the appearance of a major row between the US and Turkey. Part of the reason for that is Turkey's ambition to make decisions independently as a sovereign nation, which should be respected by her allies. The US and Turkey may have differences of opinion with respect to Israel and Iran. However, I would argue that the areas of cooperation, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, can only be described as exceptional. Instead of focusing on differences, we need to strengthen and highlight areas of cooperation based on our mutual inter.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Turkey