The first analysis of the influence the concept of space exercised on the emergence and continuing operation of international law.

The book offers the first analysis of the influence exercised by the concept of space on the emergence and continuing operation of international law. By adopting a historical perspective and analysing work of two central early modern thinkers – Leibniz and Hobbes – it offers a significant addition to a limited range of resources on early modern history of international law. The book traces links between concepts of space, universality, human cognition, law, and international law in these two early modern thinkers in a comparative fashion. Through this analysis, the book demonstrates the dependency of the contemporary international law on the Hobbesian concept of space. Although some Leibnizian elements continue to operate, they are distorted. This continuing operation of Leibnizian elements is explained by the inability of international law, which is based on the Hobbesian concept of space, to ensure universality of its normative foundation.

In view of the 'European sovereignty,' Kirchmair engages with the importance of EU external relations law and the need to structurally conceptualize how international agreements and customary international law relate to EU law. The book explores whether the European Court of Justice or national constitutional courts have the final say.

This book takes an unflinching look at the roles and functions played by the idea of universality in international legal discourses, as well as the narratives of progress that often accompany it. In doing so, it provides a critical appraisal of the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion attendant to international law and its universalist discursive strategies. Universality is therefore not reduced to the question of the geographical outreach of international law but is instead understood in terms of boundaries. This entails examining how the idea of universality was developed in the dominant vernaculars of international law - primarily English and French - before being universalised and imposed upon international lawyers from all traditions. This analysis simultaneously offers an opportunity to revisit the ideologies that constitute the identity of international lawyers today, as well as the socialisation and legal educational processes that international lawyers undergo. With an emphasis on the binaries that arise from the invocation of the idea of universality in international legal discourses, this book sheds new light on the idea of universality as a fraught site of contestation in international legal discourses.

Reexamining Customary International Law takes on the complex issues and controversies surrounding the history, theory, and practice of customary international law as it reexamines customary law's increasingly important role in world affairs. It incorporates the expertise of distinguished authors to probe many difficult issues that remain unresolved concerning the doctrine of customary law. At the same time, this book engages in a profound exploration of the practical role of customary international law in a variety of important fields, including humanitarian law, human rights law, and air and space law.

On a variety of international legal matters, relations between the US and European countries are evolving and even diverging. In an ever-changing world, understanding the reasons for this increasing dichotomy is fundamental and has a profound impact on our understanding of world dynamics and globalization and, ultimately, on our awareness of where the West is going. This interdisciplinary volume proposes new frameworks to understand the differences in approach to international law in the US and Europe. To explain the theoretical and historical underpinnings of the diverging views, the expert essays present new research and develop innovative conclusions. They assess and explore issues such as the idea of sovereignty, constitutional law, the use of force, treaty law and international adjudication. Leading authorities in different disciplines including law and political science, the contributors engage in a new dialogue and develop a new discourse on inter-Atlantic views.

The Nature of International Law provides a comprehensive analytical account of international law within the prototype theory of concepts.