The Blurb On The Back:
Since the end of the Second World War, we have moved from an international system in which war was accepted as the ultimate arbiter of disputes between nations, to one in which it was not. This remarkable book, which combined political, legal and intellectual history, traces the origins and course of one of the great shifts in the modern world.
The pivot was the Paris Peace Pact of 1928, when virtually every nation renounced war as a means of international policy. By 1939, however, that Pact looked like a naive experiment. Hathaway and Shapiro show that it was in fact the critical moment of a new attitude to war, and how it shaped the thinking of those who framed a new world order after 1945.
Though this is a book about the power of ideas and their impact upon history, it is peopled throughout by individuals who brought about these momentous changes. The Internationalists is a significant contribution to understanding international affairs, and how great historical changes come about.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Oona Hathaway is Professor of International Law and Political Science at Yale and Scott Shapiro is Professor of Law and Philosophy at Yale. This is a thorough and engaging look at the legal framework underpinning war as a means of dispute resolution and how the Grotius view of “might is right” was overturned with the 1928 Paris Peace Pact, which changed attitudes to the legitimacy of war and formed the basis of the modern international order.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Since the end of the Second World War, we have moved from an international system in which war was accepted as the ultimate arbiter of disputes between nations, to one in which it was not. This remarkable book, which combined political, legal and intellectual history, traces the origins and course of one of the great shifts in the modern world.
The pivot was the Paris Peace Pact of 1928, when virtually every nation renounced war as a means of international policy. By 1939, however, that Pact looked like a naive experiment. Hathaway and Shapiro show that it was in fact the critical moment of a new attitude to war, and how it shaped the thinking of those who framed a new world order after 1945.
Though this is a book about the power of ideas and their impact upon history, it is peopled throughout by individuals who brought about these momentous changes. The Internationalists is a significant contribution to understanding international affairs, and how great historical changes come about.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Oona Hathaway is Professor of International Law and Political Science at Yale and Scott Shapiro is Professor of Law and Philosophy at Yale. This is a thorough and engaging look at the legal framework underpinning war as a means of dispute resolution and how the Grotius view of “might is right” was overturned with the 1928 Paris Peace Pact, which changed attitudes to the legitimacy of war and formed the basis of the modern international order.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.