The Limits of International Law

Bol

International law is much debated and discussed, but poorly understood. Does international law matter, or do states regularly violate it with impunity? If international law is of no importance, then why do states devote so much energy to negotiating treaties and providing legal defenses for their actions? In turn, if international law does matter, why does it reflect the interests of powerful states, why does it change so often, and why are violations of international law usually not punished? In this book, Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner argue that international law matters but that it is less powerful and less significant than public officials, legal experts, and the media believe. International law, they contend, is simply a product of states pursuing their interests on the international stage. It does not pull states towards compliance contrary to their interests, and the possibilities for what it can achieve are limited. It follows that many global problems are simply unsolvable. The book has important implications for debates about the role of international law in the foreign policy of the United States and other nations. The authors see international law as an instrument for advancing national policy, but one that is precarious and delicate, constantly changing in unpredictable ways based on non-legal changes in international politics. They believe that efforts to replace international politics with international law rest on unjustified optimism about international law's past accomplishments and present capacities.

Bol Partner

In The Limits of International Law, Goldsmith and Posner argue that international law matters, but that it is less powerful than public officials, legal experts, and the media believe. International law, they contend, is simply a product of states pursuing their interests on the international stage. The Limits of International Law argues that international law matters but that its scope and significance is far less than assumed by academics, the media, and many public officials. Adopting a rational choice framework, the authors show that international law is a term that we use to refer to variously circumscribed cases of international cooperation. States are able to cooperate through international law but only under narrow conditions; much of international law merely ratifies existing relationships, and has no independent normative force. Indeed, recent efforts to replace international politics with law and judicial process rests on a misunderstanding of the past accomplishments of international law. The Limits of International Law will have important implications for debates about the role of international law in the foreign policy of the United States and other nations.

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Pagina's: 272, Paperback, Oxford University Press