A Century of Anarchy?

In a new podcast episode by the Society of Inter­national Law's (ESIL) “Interest Group on Peace & Security“, Hendrik Simon presented his recently published book “A Century of Anarchy? War, Normativity, and the Birth of Modern International Order”. In this book, which is based on his disser­tation, he takes a critical look at the wide­spread notion of the “free right to war” (liberum ius ad bellum) – and traces the political and theoretical roots of the modern ban on war under inter­national law back to the early 19th century.

Joining hosts Patryk Labuda (Polish Academy of Sciences) and Clare Frances Moran (Aberdeen Law School) as a guest on the podcast, Simon explains how he developed his project of a critical genealogy of modern justifi­cations of war that does not conform to black-and-white thinking about an “old” inter­national legal order before 1920 and a “new” order after 1920. During the conversation, he explains his thesis as to why the 19th century was not a “century of anarchy”. Contrary to the view later universa­lized by legal scholars that sovereign states in this era were “allowed” to use war as a political instrument whenever they deemed it necessary, inter­national violence has required legitimation throughout the modern era. This debate is central to the study of inter­national relations and international law and extends to current discus­sions about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as Simon emphasizes.

At PRIF, Hendrik Simon works in research center TraCe and the ConTrust project on norms in inter­national politics and the role of inter­national law. He is also co-head of the project “The Justification of War and International Order. From Past to Present”. The “Interest Group on Peace & Security” is one of ESIL's largest interest groups and has been publishing regular dis­cussions with experts from the fields of international law, international relations and peace and conflict research in its podcast since summer 2023.

You can listen to the episode entitled “War, Normativity, and the Birth of Modern International Order” via Spotify.