Great powers and outlaw states : unequal sovereigns in the international legal order

From the Congress of Vienna to the ''war on terrorism'', the roles of ''great powers and outlaw states'' have had a major impact on international relations. Gerry Simpson describes the ways in which an international legal order based on ''sovereign equality'' has accommodated the great powers and regulated outlaw states since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Simpson also offers a way of understanding recent transformations in the global political order by recalling the lessons of the past — in particular, through the recent violent conflicts in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 4 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Foreword......Page 9 Preface......Page 11 Acknowledgements......Page 18 Abbreviations......Page 20 Part I Introduction......Page 23 1 Great Powers and outlaw states......Page 25 Part II Concepts......Page 45 Introduction......Page 47 Orthodoxies......Page 48 Historical and philosophical roots......Page 52 Reconceptualising sovereign equality......Page 59 Formal equality......Page 64 Legislative equality......Page 70 Existential equality......Page 75 Tolerated inequalities......Page 78 Introduction......Page 84 Hierarchy and anarchy......Page 85 Legalised hegemony: the Great Powers in concert......Page 89 Liberal anti-pluralism......Page 98 Other hierarchies......Page 105 Conclusion......Page 108 Part III Histories: Great Powers......Page 111 Introduction......Page 113 The Congress of Vienna and the inception of legalised hegemony......Page 115 The Congress of Vienna: a brief account......Page 118 Legalised hegemony......Page 124 Sovereign equality in the service of legalised hegemony......Page 130 Other hierarchies......Page 132 Conclusion......Page 134 International legal scholarship: fidelity, repudiation and equivocation......Page 137 Fidelity......Page 138 Repudiation......Page 143 Equivocation......Page 146 Towards the Hague Peace Conferences......Page 148 Introduction......Page 154 Rui Barbosa and James Brown Scott......Page 158 Hegemony revived......Page 169 Versailles......Page 176 From Vienna to Versailles: some preliminary conclusions......Page 182 Introduction......Page 187 At the Fairmont Hotel......Page 189 The push for hegemony......Page 190 The pull of equality......Page 197 At San Francisco......Page 201 Attenuating the veto......Page 202 Modifying the membership......Page 204 Constraining the Council......Page 206 Enhancing the Assembly......Page 210 Equality and hegemony revisited......Page 214 Introduction......Page 216 Two theses about the Nato action in Kosovo......Page 221 The Verona thesis......Page 223 The Vienna thesis......Page 236 Conclusion......Page 244 Part IV Histories: Outlaw States......Page 247 Introduction......Page 249 International society: two conceptions......Page 251 Introduction......Page 254 The publicists of anti-pluralism......Page 257 Practices of anti-pluralism: capitulations and unequal treaties......Page 265 The practices of anti-pluralism: intervention and the Holy Alliance......Page 269 Introduction......Page 276 The turn of the century......Page 278 Versailles......Page 282 San Francisco......Page 285 Introduction: the shift to anti-pluralism......Page 300 Criminal states......Page 306 The democratic governance regime......Page 321 Conclusion: a bifurcated legal order......Page 333 Part V Conclusion......Page 339 Introduction: juridical sovereignty and the war in Afghanistan......Page 341 Hegemons......Page 344 Outlaws......Page 347 Unequal sovereigns I: legalised hegemony modified......Page 348 Lawful violence: pragmatists......Page 349 Unlawful violence......Page 353 Legalised hegemony revisited......Page 356 Unequal sovereigns in the Afghanistan war: out of law......Page 361 Conclusion......Page 370 12 The puzzle of sovereignty......Page 374 Select bibliography......Page 376 Index......Page 394 Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series-title 4 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Foreword 9 Preface 11 Acknowledgements 18 Abbreviations 20 Part I Introduction 23 1 Great Powers and outlaw states 25 Part II Concepts 45 2 Sovereign equalities 47 Introduction 47 Orthodoxies 48 Historical and philosophical roots 52 Reconceptualising sovereign equality 59 Formal equality 64 Legislative equality 70 Existential equality 75 Tolerated inequalities 78 3 Legalised hierarchies 84 Introduction 84 Hierarchy and anarchy 85 Legalised hegemony: the Great Powers in concert 89 Liberal anti-pluralism 98 Other hierarchies 105 Conclusion 108 Part III Histories: Great Powers 111 4 Legalised hegemony: from Congress to Conference 1815–1906 113 Introduction 113 The Congress of Vienna and the inception of legalised hegemony 115 The Congress of Vienna: a brief account 118 Hegemony and hierarchy at Vienna 124 Legalised hegemony 124 Sovereign equality in the service of legalised hegemony 130 Other hierarchies 132 Conclusion 134 International legal scholarship: fidelity, repudiation and equivocation 137 Fidelity 138 Repudiation 143 Equivocation 146 Towards the Hague Peace Conferences 148 5 ‘Extreme equality’: Rupture at the Second Hague Peace Conference 1907 154 Introduction 154 Rui Barbosa and James Brown Scott 158 Hegemony revived 169 Versailles 176 From Vienna to Versailles: some preliminary conclusions 182 6 The Great Powers, sovereign equality and the making of the United Nations Charter: San Francisco 1945 187 Introduction 187 Going to San Francisco 189 At the Fairmont Hotel 189 The push for hegemony 190 The pull of equality 197 At San Francisco 201 Attenuating the veto 202 Modifying the membership 204 Constraining the Council 206 Enhancing the Assembly 210 Equality and hegemony revisited 214 7 Holy Alliances: Verona 1822 and Kosovo 1999 216 Introduction 216 Two theses about the Nato action in Kosovo 221 The Verona thesis 223 The Vienna thesis 236 Conclusion 244 Part IV Histories: Outlaw States 247 8 Unequal sovereigns: 1815–1939 249 Introduction 249 International society: two conceptions 251 Unequal sovereigns 254 Introduction 254 The publicists of anti-pluralism 257 Practices of anti-pluralism: capitulations and unequal treaties 265 The practices of anti-pluralism: intervention and the Holy Alliance 269 9 Peace-loving nations: 1945 276 Introduction 276 The turn of the century 278 Versailles 282 San Francisco 285 10 Outlaw states: 1999 300 Introduction: the shift to anti-pluralism 300 Regimes of anti-pluralism 306 Criminal states 306 The democratic governance regime 321 Conclusion: a bifurcated legal order 333 Part V Conclusion 339 11 Arguing about Afghanistan: Great Powers and outlaw states redux 341 Introduction: juridical sovereignty and the war in Afghanistan 341 Hegemons 344 Outlaws 347 Unequal sovereigns I: legalised hegemony modified 348 Lawful violence: pragmatists 349 Unlawful violence 353 Legalised hegemony revisited 356 Unequal sovereigns in the Afghanistan war: out of law 361 Conclusion 370 12 The puzzle of sovereignty 374 Select bibliography 376 Index 394 The presence of Great Powers and outlaw states is a central but under-explored feature of international society. In this book, Gerry Simpson describes the ways in which an international legal order based on 'sovereign equality' has accommodated the Great Powers and regulated outlaw states since the beginning of the nineteenth-century. In doing so, the author offers a fresh understanding of sovereignty which he terms juridical sovereignty to show how international law has managed the interplay of three languages: the languages of Great Power prerogative, the language of outlawry (or anti-pluralism) and the language of sovereign equality. The co-existence and interaction of these three languages is traced through a number of moments of institutional transformation in the global order from the Congress of Vienna to the 'war on terrorism'. This book examines how unequal sovereigns have had a major impact on the way international relations are conducted. The author offers a way of understanding recent transformations in the global political order by recalling the lessons of the past, in particular the recent conflicts in Kosovo and Afghanistan