The Politics of International Law

by Martti Koskenniemi

Today international law is everywhere. Wars are fought and opposed in its name. It is invoked to claim rights and to challenge them, to indict or support political leaders, to distribute resources and to expand or limit the powers of domestic and international institutions. International law is part of the way political (and economic) power is used, critiqued, and sometimes limited. Despite its claim for neutrality and impartiality, it is implicit in what is just, as well as what is unjust in the world. To understand its operation requires shedding its ideological spell and examining it with a cold eye. Who are its winners, and who are its losers? How - if at all - can it be used to make a better or a less unjust world?

In this collection of essays Professor Martti Koskenniemi, a well-known practitioner and a leading theorist and historian of international law, examines the recent debates on humanitarian intervention, collective security, protection of human rights and the 'fight against impunity' and reflects on the use of the professional techniques of international law to intervene politically. The essays both illustrate and expand his influential theory of the role of international law in international politics. The book is prefaced with an introduction by Professor Emmanuelle Jouannet (Sorbonne Law School), which locates the texts in the overall thought and work of Martti Koskenniemi.

Genres: Law, Politics, International Relations

388 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2011

About the author

Martti Koskenniemi was the Academy Professor and Director of the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights at the University of Helsinki, a Professorial Fellow at Melbourne Law School, and Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He held visiting professorships at New York University, the University of Cambridge, the University of Utrecht, Columbia University, the University of São Paulo, the University of Toronto, and the universities of Paris I, II, X and XVI. He was a member of the Finnish diplomatic service from 1978 to 1994 and of the International Law Commission (UN) from 2002 to 2006. His main publications include From Apology to Utopia: The Structure of International Legal Argument (1989), The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870-1960 (2001), The Politics of International Law (2011), The Cambridge Companion to International Law (2012, co-edited with Professor James Crawford), and To the Uttermost Parts of the Earth: Legal Imagination and International Power 1300–1870 (2021). He is a graduate of the universities of Turku and Oxford, and holds the degree of doctorate of laws honoris causa from the universities of Uppsala and Frankfurt.

Reviews

[Gift · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Koskenniemi´s attitude. He has his style of writing, his clear point of view, and he hates methodologies. He has been able to achieve carrier in academic and in political world as well. He is so sure of himself that he was able to reject an invitation from Anne-Marie Slaughter. (Yes, that Slaughter!) What´s more, he wrote her a long open letter where he explained his dismissal of her work. This guy has guts!

The Politics of International Law is a summary of older Koskenniemi´s essays and papers. It is an interesting but not very useful book. I would recommend it to everyone who is interested in the normative side of international public law or in international law in general. If you are looking for a methodological or even theoretical book, you might be disappointed.

3.5*

[Nurlan Mustafayev · Rating 5 out of 5]

International politics and international law remain two distinct fields in terms of academia and practice. International politics argue that ‘vital interest’ is key in understanding international relations and there is little space for international law in solving real-world problems. International law argues the contrary. Koskenniemi in this book is trying to integrate these two 'irreconcilable' fields.