United States hegemony and the foundations of international law

550 Pages·2003·5.87 MB·English

by  Nolte, Georg, Byers, Michael

UNITED STATES HEGEMONY AND THE
FOUNDATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
Thefoundationsofinternationallawhavebeenshapedbysuccessivehege-
monicpowersthroughouthistory.Thisbookexamineswhetherthecurrent
predominance of the United States is leading to foundational change
in the international legal system. A range of leading scholars in inter-
national law and international relations consider six foundational areas
that could be undergoing change, including international community,
sovereignequality,thelawgoverningtheuseofforce,andcompliance.The
authorsdemonstratethattheeffectsofUSpredominanceonthefounda-
tionsofinternationallawarereal,butalsointenselycomplex.Thiscom-
plexityisdue,inpart,toamultitudeofactorsexercisinginfluentialroles.
Anditisalsoduetothecontinuedvitalityandremainingfunctionality
oftheinternationallegalsystemitself.Thissystemlimitstheinfluenceof
individualStates,whilestretchingandbendinginresponsetothechanging
geopoliticsofourtime.
Michael Byers isAssociateProfessorofLawatDukeUniversity.His
recentpublicationsincludeCustom,PowerandthePowerofRules(1999)
and(aseditor)TheRoleofLawinInternationalPolitics(2000).
Georg Nolte isProfessorofLawattheUniversityofGo¨ttingen.His
recent publications include Eingreifen auf Einladung (Intervention upon
Invitation)(1999)andBeleidigungsschutzinderFreiheitlichenDemokratie
(DefamationLawinDemocraticStates)(1992).

UNITED STATES HEGEMONY
AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF
INTERNATIONAL LAW
Editedby
MICHAEL BYERS
GEORG NOLTE
  
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
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CONTENTS
Listofcontributors pageviii
Preface xv
Introduction:thecomplexitiesoffoundational
change 1
michael byers
parti Internationalcommunity
1 Theinternationalcommunity,internationallaw,andthe
UnitedStates:threeinone,twoagainstone,oroneandthe
same? 25
edward kwakwa
2 TheinfluenceoftheUnitedStatesontheconceptofthe
“InternationalCommunity” 57
andreas paulus
3 Commentsonchapters1and2 91
martti koskenniemi, steven ratner, and
volker rittberger
partii Sovereignequality
4 Sovereignequality–“theWimbledonsailson” 117
michel cosnard
v
vi contents
5 Moreequalthantherest?Hierarchy,equalityand
USpredominanceininternationallaw 135
nico krisch
6 Commentsonchapters4and5 176
pierre-marie dupuy, matthias herdegen, and
gregory h. fox
partiii Useofforce
7 TheuseofforcebytheUnitedStatesaftertheendofthe
ColdWar,anditsimpactoninternationallaw 197
marcelo g. kohen
8 Bendingthelaw,breakingit,ordevelopingit?The
UnitedStatesandthehumanitarianuseofforceinthe
post–ColdWarera 232
brad r. roth
9 Commentsonchapters7and8 264
thomas franck, jochen abr. frowein, and
daniel thu¨rer
partiv Customaryinternationallaw
10 Powerfulbutunpersuasive?TheroleoftheUnitedStates
intheevolutionofcustomaryinternationallaw 287
stephen toope
11 Hegemoniccustom? 317
achilles skordas
12 Commentsonchapters10and11 348
rainer hofmann, andrew hurrell, and
ru¨diger wolfrum
partv Lawoftreaties
13 TheeffectsofUSpredominanceontheelaborationoftreaty
regimesandontheevolutionofthelawoftreaties 363
pierre klein
contents vii
14 USreservationstohumanrightstreaties:allforoneand
noneforall? 392
catherine redgwell
15 Commentsonchapters13and14 416
jost delbru¨ck, alain pellet, and bruno simma
partvi Compliance
16 TheimpactoninternationallawofUS
noncompliance 427
shirley v. scott
17 Compliance:multilateralachievementsand
predominantpowers 456
peter-tobias stoll
18 Commentsonchapters16and17 477
vaughan lowe, david m. malone, and
christian tomuschat
Conclusion 491
georg nolte
Index 515
CONTRIBUTORS
MichaelByersisAssociateProfessorofLawatDukeUniversity.Heisthe
author of Custom, Power and the Power of Rules (Cambridge University
Press, 1999), editor of The Role of Law in International Politics (Oxford
University Press, 2000) and translator of Wilhelm Grewe, The Epochs of
InternationalLaw(WalterdeGruyter,2000).Heisaregularcontributorto
theLondonReviewofBooks.
MichelCosnardisProfessorofInternationalLawattheUniversityofMaine
(LeMans,France).HeistheauthorofLasoumissiondes´etatsauxtribunaux
internes:facea`lath´eoriedesimmunit´esdes´etats(Pedone,1996)andacontri-
butortoDenisAlland(ed.),Droitinternationalpublic(Pressesuniversitaires
deFrance,2000).
JostDelbru¨ck is Professor Emeritus and former director of the Walther-
Schu¨cking-InstituteofInternationalLaw,Kiel,Germany,aswellasProfessor
of Law at Indiana University School of Law–Bloomington. He is coeditor
oftheGermanYearbookofInternationalLaw andoftheIndianaJournalof
GlobalLegalStudies.
Pierre-MarieDupuy is Professor of Public International Law at the Uni-
versityofParis(Panthe´on-Assas)andattheEuropeanUniversityInstitute
in Florence. He is the author of more than sixty articles and a number
of books, including Droit international public (6th edn.) (Pre´cis Dalloz,
2002).HehasservedasCounselandAdvocateinthirteencasesbeforethe
InternationalCourtofJusticeand,in2000,deliveredthegeneralcourseon
publicinternationallawattheHagueAcademyofInternationalLaw.
GregoryFox is Visiting Professor at Wayne State University Law School.
Heistheco-editor(withBradRoth)ofDemocraticGovernanceandInter-
national Law (Cambridge University Press, 2000), as well as the author
of numerous articles. He has held fellowships at the Schell Center for
viii
list of contributors ix
International Human Rights at Yale Law School and the Max Planck In-
stitute for Comparative Public Law and Public International Law. He has
alsobeenlegalcounseltotheStateofEritreaandcounselinseveralhuman
rightscasesinUScourts.
Thomas M. Franck is Murry and Ida Becker Professor of Law Emeritus
at New York University School of Law. His most recent work is Recourse
to Force: State Action Against Threats and Armed Attacks (Cambridge
UniversityPress,2002).ProfessorFranckispastpresidentoftheAmerican
SocietyofInternationalLawandaformerEditor-in-ChiefoftheAmerican
Journal of International Law. He has also acted as legal advisor or coun-
sel to many governments, and currently serves as a judge ad hoc at the
InternationalCourtofJustice.
Jochen Abr. Frowein is Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute
for Comparative Public Law and Public International Law in Heidelberg,
andProfessoremeritusofConstitutionalandPublicInternationalLawat
the University of Heidelberg. He served as Vice-President of the German
ResearchFoundationin1977–1980,Vice-PresidentoftheEuropeanCom-
mission on Human Rights in 1981–1993, and Vice-President of the Max
PlanckSocietyin1999–2002.
MatthiasHerdegenisProfessorofPublicLawandDirectoroftheInstitute
for International Law at the University of Bonn. He is the author of the
mostrecenteditionsoftextbooksoninternationallaw,Europeanlaw,and
international economic law published by C. H. Beck, and coeditor (with
George A. Bermann and Peter L. Lindseth) of Transnational Regulatory
Co-operation(OxfordUniversityPress,2000).
RainerHofmannisDirectoroftheWalther-Schu¨cking-InstituteforInter-
nationalLawatKielUniversityandPresidentoftheAdvisoryCommittee
under the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection
of National Minorities. He has published extensively on German consti-
tutional law and public international law, in particular on human rights,
refugeelawandminorityrights.HeiscoeditoroftheGermanYearbookof
InternationalLaw.
AndrewHurrellisUniversityLecturerinInternationalRelationsandFellow
of Nuffield College, Oxford. Recent publications include (as co-editor
with Ngaire Woods) Inequality, Globalization and World Politics (Oxford