Research Training Group World Politics RTG 2225

The divergence between classical and contemporary theorists on the primacy of law and order is a phenomenon that has long marked English School theory. Contemporary scholars suggest that there are issues such as human rights that transcend the borders of nation-states because they have an impact on all actors in the international arena and, thus, the development of world society. Nevertheless, according to classical theorists, the creation and preservation of a harmonious international order in which states remain the main actors overwhelms that of universal legal norms.
This project aims to concentrate mainly on the opposition between these points of view. With reference to crucial developments in international law, it will challenge the idea according to which the supremacy of law over order would put the latter in danger. Hence, the will and consent of states to gather around universal legal norms to prosecute state officials for their responsibility in the commission of the worst international crimes will be examined to demonstrate the evolving nature of the relationship between international society and world society. Thus, it will reveal that world society is progressing à grande vitesse throughout legal developments, more than estimated even by the most optimistic English School theorists.