War And The Law Of Nations

This ambitious 2005 volume is a history of war, from the standpoint of international law, from the beginning of history to the present day. Its primary focus is on legal conceptions of war as such, rather than on the substantive or technical aspects of the law of war. It tells the story, in narrative form, of the interplay, through the centuries, between, on the one hand, legal ideas about war and, on the other hand, state practice in warfare. Its coverage includes reprisals, civil wars, UN enforcement and the war on terrorism. This book will interest historians, students of international relations and international lawyers.

This treatise investigates the emergence of the early modern law of nations, focusing on Alberico Gentili’s contribution to the same. A religious refugee and Regius Professor at the University of Oxford, Alberico Gentili (1552–1608) lived in difficult times of religious wars and political persecution. He discussed issues that were topical in his lifetime and remain so today, including the clash of civilizations, the conduct of war, and the maintenance of peace. His idealism and political pragmatism constitute the principal reasons for the continued interest in his work. Gentili’s work is important for historical record, but also for better analysing and critically assessing the origins of international law and its current developments, as well as for elaborating its future trajectories.

The US Senator from New York offers an insightful account of American attitudes toward international law from the founding of the Republic to the present day. He reveals Americans to be generally well-disposed toward a law of nations, notwithstanding the contrary values of the US government over the last decade. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This concise book is an introduction to the role of international law in international relations. Written for lawyers and non-lawyers alike, the book first appeared in 1928 and attracted a wide readership. This new edition builds on Brierly's scholarship and his idea that law must serve a social purpose. Previous editions of The Law of Nations have been the standard introduction to international law for decades, and are widely popular in many different countries due to the simplicity and brevity of the prose style. Providing a comprehensive overview of international law, this new version of the classic book retains the original qualities and is again essential reading for all those interested in learning what role the law plays in international affairs. The reader will find chapters on traditional and contemporary topics such as: the basis of international obligation, the role of the UN and the International Criminal Court, the emergence of new states, the acquisition of territory, the principles covering national jurisdiction and immunities, the law of treaties, the different ways of settling international disputes, and the rules on resort to force and the prohibition of aggression.

By one of the nation's foremost legal historians, a groundbreaking history of the pioneering American role in establishing the modern laws of war. This book is a compelling story of ideals under pressure and a landmark contribution to our understanding of the American experience.

THE disputes arising among those who are held together by no common bond of civil laws to decide their dissensions, like the ancient Patriarchs, who formed no national community, or the numerous, unconnected communities, whether under the direction of individuals, or kings, or persons invested with Sovereign power, as the leading men in an aristocracy, and the body of the people in a republican government; the disputes, arising among any of these, all bear a relation to the circumstances of war or peace. But because war is undertaken for the sake of peace, and there is no dispute, which may not give rise to war, it will be proper to treat all such quarrels, as commonly happen, between nations, as an article in the rights of war: and then war itself will lead us to peace, as to its proper end. In treating of the rights of war, the first point, that we have to consider, is, what is war, which is the subject of our inquiry, and what is the right, which we seek to establish. Cicero styled war a contention by force. But the practice has prevailed to indicate by that name, not an immediate action, but a state of affairs; so that war is the state of contending parties, considered as such. This definition, by its general extent, comprises those wars of every description, that will form the subject of the present treatise. Nor are single combats excluded from this definition. For, as they are in reality more ancient than public wars, and undoubtedly, of the same nature, they may therefore properly be comprehended under one and the same name. This agrees very well with the true derivation of the word. For the Latin word, Bellum, WAR, comes from the old word, Duellum, a DUEL, as Bonus from Duonus, and Bis from Duis. Now Duellum was derived from Duo; and thereby implied a difference between two persons, in the same sense as we term peace, UNITY, from Unitas, for a contrary reason. So the Greek word, polemos, commonly used to signify war, expresses in its original, an idea of multitude. The ancient Greeks likewise called it lye, which imports a DISUNION of minds; just as by the term dye, they meant the DISSOLUTION of the parts of the body. Nor does the use of the word, WAR, contradict this larger acceptation of it. For though some times it is only applied to the quarrels of states, yet that is no objection, as it is evident that a general name is often applied to some particular object, entitled to peculiar distinction. Justice is not included in the definition of war, because the very point to be decided is, whether any war be just, and what war may be so called. Therefore we must make a distinction between war itself, and the justice of it.