War and the Law of Nations: A General History

by Stephen C. Neff

• ISBN13: 9780521662055
• ISBN10: 0521662052
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-19
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This ambitious 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.

Table of Contents

Preface	x
List of abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
PART I War as law enforcement (to 1600)	7	(76)
Ares and Athena	13	(26)
Hallmarks of war	14	(15)
War as an instrument of justice	29	(10)
Loving enemies and hating sin	39	(44)
Islamic perspectives	40	(5)
Christian soldiers	45	(9)
The contours of the just-war outlook	54	(14)
Outside the cloister	68	(15)
PART II New forces stirring (1600--1815)	83	(76)
War in due form	95	(36)
Breaking new ground	96	(6)
Perfect war	102	(17)
Imperfect war	119	(12)
Dissension in the ranks	131	(28)
Challenges to orthodoxy	132	(8)
Grappling with issues	140	(19)
PART III War as state policy (1815--1919)	159	(118)
Collisions of naked interest	167	(48)
The positivist synthesis	169	(8)
War as an institution of law	177	(19)
Dark shadows remaining	196	(19)
Tame and half-hearted war: intervention, reprisal and necessity	215	(35)
The art of intervention	217	(8)
Reprisals	225	(14)
Emergency action	239	(11)
Civil strife	250	(27)
From rebellion to belligerency	251	(7)
Recognising belligerency	258	(10)
Recognising insurgency	268	(9)
PART IV Just wars reborn (1919--)	277	(118)
Regulating war	285	(29)
Making a new world	286	(10)
The art of avoiding war	296	(18)
Farewell to war?	314	(43)
A neo-just-war order	316	(19)
The art of abolishing war	335	(12)
Unanswered questions	347	(10)
New fields of battle	357	(38)
From civil war to national liberation	358	(18)
Striking terror	376	(19)
Conclusion	395	(4)
Bibliography	399	(23)
Table of cases	422	(2)
Table of treaties	424	(4)
Index	428