Instruments of International Order: Internationalism and Diplomacy, 1900-50

During the first half of the twentieth century, world politics was reshaped in pursuit of a new international order. The ideological foundations of the ‘new diplomacy’ (and its fate during the interwar period) are well known. This book instead examines the practices of internationalism and diplomacy from the First Hague Conference of 1899 to the aftermath of the Second World War. By focusing on these practices, such as disarmament regimes or public diplomacy, and their use as instruments to build international order(s), it emphasises the constructed, contested, and experimental character of what subsequently became a standard repertoire of international politics. Essays from a range of interdisciplinary scholars address well-established principles such as self-determination, and also less prominent practices such as small arms control or parliamentary inquiry. The book makes a major contribution to the growing historiography on twentieth-century internationalism. Front matter Contents List of Figures Contributors Preface Introduction Chapter 1: Becoming national: self-determination as a tool in international politics Chapter 2: The League of Nations and the new uses of sovereignty Chapter 3: Ascertaining the truth in Albania: inquiry as a League of Nations instrument of international order Chapter 4: The chemical weapons discourse as an instrument of international order: the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Chapter 5: ‘Weapons misused by barbarous races’: disarmament, imperialism and race in the interwar period Chapter 6: Colonial policy and international control: the American Philippines and multilateral drug treaties, 1909–31 Chapter 7: In the eyes of the world: media oversight and diplomatic practices at the League of Nations Assembly Chapter 8: The League of Nations and the advisory opinion of the Permanent Court of International Justice as ‘preventive adjudication’? Chapter 9: With or without the metropole: deferred sovereignty as instrument of racial governance Index