Lawless World: America and the Making and Breaking of Global Rules--From FDR's Atlantic Charter to George W. Bush's Illegal War

by Philippe Sands

Sixty years ago, the United States and Great Britain spearheaded efforts to create a new world order based on international rules. Today these two nations are leading the charge to disregard the very global safeguards they once fought to establish. In this eye-opening book, international lawyer Philippe Sands explains why this radical policy shift has occurred and how it will affect twenty-first-century world politics.

Using the events of September 11 and the subsequent “war on terror” as justification, the Bush administration has turned its back on many international agreements governing basic human rights, war, torture, the environment, and free trade, with Tony Blair often colluding. Focusing on watershed events such as the repudiation of the Kyoto Protocol and the abuses at Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, Sands argues that the United States and Britain are undermining international law at the precise moment when it has become most essential.

Crisp, impassioned, and hard hitting, Lawless World is at once an exposé and an indictment of a catastrophic realignment of the laws that govern international affairs.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Law, History, American, International Relations, World History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published February 24, 2005

About the author

Philippe Sands an Anglo-French lawyer and writer. He is Professor of Law at University College London and a practicing barrister at Matrix Chambers. He has been involved in many important cases, including Pinochet, Congo, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Iraq, Guantanamo and the Yazadis. His books include Lawless World and Torture Team. He is a frequent contributor to the Financial Times, Guardian, New York Review of Books and Vanity Fair, makes regular appearances on radio and television, and serves on the boards of English PEN and the Hay Festival.

Reviews

[Gabriel Slon · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's mad ASF.
This book serves as a short history of international law -- from the Atlantic Charter to the 1984 Convention on Torture to NAFTA and the WTO -- as well as a scathing critique of how the Bush and Blair administrations undermined international law in their haste to go to war in Iraq. This is not an objective legal history of the war in Iraq, nor does it claim to be. Sands argues well that the damage done by Bush in his haste to invade, detain, and torture has had and will have negative consequences for everyone, including the US itself. It's Petard Hoisting Szn.

Would love to see either an updated book now that we are twenty plus years past 9/11, or another Sands book on the state of international law today. What was COVIDs impact? How has China been as a participant in international law (in this book, China is still barely an emerging player)?

[Naeem · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the foremost International Law authors. But the vantage point of his critique is so -- how shall i say it -- shrill, condescending, uncritical, unhistorical, and limited. Does he not understand that his meta position is identical to those he would criticize.

the neo-Kantians -- those who would re-make the world according to some parochial version of universalism -- are the most dangerous of all. In my opinion, anyway. Sands is an excellent example of someone who cluelessness is what the emperor's clothes are made of.

[Juan Herrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent account of what happened before, during and after the war in Iraq. An overview of how international law, in its imperfection, benefits the world.

[Yomna El · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive, erudite, critical, and inspiring overview of PIL that is very accessible to non-lawyers. A little outdated now but a great guide of the most important PIL events circa and pre 2006.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

So great. Well explained. Didn’t know so much of this which is wild because it’s so fundamental now!

[Mat Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very important book.

The author clearly values international law and makes a strong case for it, whilst exploding the hypocrisy pertaining to the Bush and Blair administration. It is interesting to read now, because the consequences of undermining international law can be, arguably, observed in the behaviour of Russia regarding Georgia and Ukraine.

On the other hand, the book is a little dry at times, however, it is accessible. I recommend it for people who are concerned with the role of the state, the movement towards unilateralism, and those concerned with the current discussion about sovereignty and human rights in the UK and Europe. This is not light reading, so make sure you have a strong cup of coffee in hand.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

very topical
how after WW2
America & Britain helped set up international law to safeguard society across the world
after coming through such a horrendous war with the many dead & casualties
Now, these laws are being pulled apart & abused by the very same lawmakers
They are now fast becoming law breakers
as they brutally pull apart these intended safeguards for their own ends
wherever that may be
very engrossing well written book by a specialist in the field

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several reviews state this book is dry. I don't really agree. Maybe a few sections were a bit dry, but overall I found the book pretty easy to read (except the chapters on trade and investing which I know hardly anything about). Interesting reading this book a decade after it was published and looking back on all the crap the Bush administration pulled.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense at times, but extensively documented and researched. A comprehensive summary of the history of international law and how the USA ignores and contravenes it.

[Ian Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

frightening.

[Luke Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3

[Bruce]

good arguments showing Bush's arrogance and Blair's sheep dog following