From Apology to Utopia: The Structure of International Legal Argument

705 Pages·2006·4.98 MB·English

by  Martti Koskenniemi

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FROM APOLOGY TO UTOPIA
Thisbookpresentsacriticalviewofinternationallawasanargument-
ativepracticethataimsto‘depoliticise’internationalrelations.Drawing
from a wide range of materials, Koskenniemi demonstrates how this
effort fails as international law becomes vulnerable to the contrasting
criticismsofbeingeitheranirrelevantmoralistUtopiaoramanipulable
fac¸ade for State interests. He examines the conflicts and paradoxes
inherentinthemainstrandsofinternationallaw–sources,sovereignty,
‘custom’and‘worldorder’–andshowshowlegaldiscourseaboutsuch
subjectscanbedescribedintermsofasmallnumberofargumentative
rules.
FromApologytoUtopiawasoriginallypublishedinEnglishinFinland
in1989,andthoughitquicklybecameaclassic,ithasbeenoutofprint
for some years. Cambridge University Press is proud to reissue this
seminal text, together with a substantial, freshly written Epilogue in
which the author both responds to critics of the original work, and
reflects on the effect and significance of his ‘deconstructive’ approach
today.
MARTTI KOSKENNIEMI is Professor of International Law at the
University of Helsinki and Global Professor of Law at New York
University.HeisalsoamemberoftheInternationalLawCommission.
HisotherpublicationsincludeTheGentleCivilizerofNations:TheRise
andFallofInternationalLaw1870–1960.

FROM APOLOGY TO UTOPIA
The Structure of International Legal Argument
Reissue with a new Epilogue
MARTTI KOSKENNIEMI
camʙʀɪdɢe uɴɪveʀsɪtʏ pʀess
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cʙ2 2ʀu, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521838061
© Martti Koskenniemi 2005
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2006
ɪsʙɴ-13 978-0-511-13977-2 eBook (EBL)
ɪsʙɴ-10 0-511-13977-2 eBook (EBL)
ɪsʙɴ-13 978-0-521-83806-1 hardback
ɪsʙɴ-10 0-521-83806-1 hardback
ɪsʙɴ-13 978-0-521-54696-6
ɪsʙɴ-10 0-521-54696-6
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of uʀʟs
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Allgameshavemorals;andthegameofSnakesandLadderscaptures,as
nootheractivitycanhopetodo,theeternaltruththatforeveryladder
youclimb,asnakeiswaitingjustaroundthecorner;andforeverysnake,a
ladderwillcompensate.Butit’smorethanthat;nomerecarrot-and-stick
affair;becauseimplicitinthegameistheunchangingtwonessofthings,
thedualityofupagainstdown,goodagainstevil;thesolidrationalityof
laddersbalancesthe occultsinuositiesoftheserpent;intheopposition
ofstaircaseandcobrawecansee,metaphorically,allconceivableopposi-
tions, Alpha against Omega, father against mother; here is the war of
MaryandMusa,andthepolaritiesofkneesandnose ... butIfound ...
thatthegamelackedonecrucialdimension,thatofambiguity–because,
aseventsareabouttoshow,itisalsopossibletoslitherdownaladderand
climbtotriumphonthevenomofasnake.
SalmanRushdie,Midnight’sChildren(Picador,London,1981),p.141
ForT&L&A

CONTENTS
Prefacetothereissue pagexiii
Acknowledgements xv
Listofabbreviations xvii
Introduction 1
1 Objectivityininternationallaw:conventional
dilemmas 16
1.1 Theidentityofinternationallaw:therequirements
ofnormativityandconcreteness 17
1.2 Provingtheobjectivityofinternationallaw 23
1.2.1 Apreliminarypoint:internationallawas
problem-solution 24
1.2.2 Objectivityandthepracticeoflegal
problem-solution 28
1.2.2.1 Thebasicposition:objectivityandthe
judicialfunction 28
1.2.2.2 Therevisedposition:thedoctrineof
‘‘relativeindeterminacy’’ 36
1.2.3 Objectivityinhardcases:theformsofmodern
doctrine 41
1.3 Thestructureofinternationallegalargument:thedynamics
ofcontradiction 58
1.3.1 Thedescendingandascendingpatternsof
justification 59
vii
viii CONTENTS
1.3.2 Indeterminacyascontradiction 60
1.3.3 Thestructureofinternational
legalargument 67
1.4 Outlineofthebook 69
2 Doctrinalhistory:theliberaldoctrineofpoliticsanditseffecton
internationallaw 71
2.1 Theemergenceandstructureoftheliberaldoctrineof
politics 74
2.1.1 Thestructureofliberalism 76
2.1.2 Liberalismandinternationallaw 89
2.2 Earlyscholarship 95
2.3 Classicalscholarship 106
2.3.1 Earlyclassicists:Vattel 108
2.3.2 Theprofessionals 122
2.3.2.1 Twodeviationists:AustinandJellinek 125
2.3.2.2 Professionalmainstream 130
2.3.2.3 Thecoherenceofprofessionalwriting:
historicismandproceduralization 143
2.4 Conclusion 154
3 Thestructureofmoderndoctrines 158
3.1 Moderninterpretationsofdoctrine:descendingand
ascendingargumentsconfirmed 159
3.2 Moderninterpretationsofpractice 171
3.3 Therelationsofdoctrineandpracticereconsidered:four
versionsofmoderndoctrine 182
3.3.1 Rule-approach:Schwarzenberger 189
3.3.2 Scepticism:Morgenthau 197