The Liberal -Welfarist Law Of Nations (A History Of International Law)

The Liberal-Welfarist Law of Nations
Although portrayed as a liberal law of co-existence of and co-operation between states, international law has always been a welfarist law, too. Not only did it minister to the interests of states and their concern for stability, but it was also an interventionist law designed to ensure the happiness and well-being of peoples. Hence, international law initially served as a secularized eschatological model, replacing the role of religion in ensuring the proper ordering of mankind, which was held to be both one and divided. That initial vision still drives our post-Cold War globalized world. Contemporary international law is neither strictly welfarist nor strictly liberal but is in fact liberal-welfarist. In the conjunction of these two purposes lies one of the keys to its meaning and a partial explanation for its continuing ambivalence.
EMMANUELLE JOUANNET is a professor of international law at the Sorbonne School of Law (University of Paris I), where she directs the Research Programme: International Law and Justice in a Global World.
Cover image: Brigitte Stern
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
www.cambridge.org ISBN 978-1-107-01894-5
781107 018945
Cover designed by Hart McLeod Ltd