Was the 19th century a “century of anarchy” in which sovereign states were free to use war as a political instrument whenever they deemed it necessary? In his recently published book “A Century of Anarchy? War, Normativity and the Birth of Modern International Order”, Hendrik Simon rejects this idea and writes a new history of the modern international order. In the new episode of the PRIF talk podcast, he explains why international violence has required legitimization throughout the modern era, how he developed his analysis of war discourses and justifications of violence – and how the book came to have a cover image by Hilma af Klint.
At PRIF, Hendrik Simon conducts research on norms in international politics and the role of international law as part of the TraCe and the ConTrust research alliances. He is also co-leader of the project “The Justification of War and International Order. From Past to Present”.
PRIF's German-language podcast focuses on the research topics and projects of our researchers as well as their assessments of current issues, debates and developments in peace and conflict research.
The new episode of PRIF talk Ein freies Recht zum Krieg? will be available from August 1 – on the PRIF blog and wherever podcasts are available.