Hendrik Simon Awarded with Helmuth James von Moltke Prize

Hendrik Simon, project manager and associated researcher at the Research Department International Institutions, is the winner of the Helmuth-James-Moltke Prize 2025. The prize, endowed with 2,000 euros, is awarded by the German Society for Military Law and Inter­national Humani­tarian Law (Deutschen Gesellschaft für Wehrrecht und Humanitäres Völkerrecht, DGWHV) for outstanding legal treatises in the field of security policy. It com­memorates the lawyer and founder of the Kreisau Circle resistance group in Nazi Germany.

Simon receives the prize for his book based on his disser­tation “A Century of Anarchy? War, Normativity, and the Birth of Modern International Order” (Oxford Uni­versity Press, 2024), which provides a new history of the modern inter­national order. In it, he takes a critical look at the idea of a “free right to war” (liberum ius ad bellum) that is widespread in research and among the public. Contrary to what the black-and-white thinking about an “old” inter­national legal order before 1920 and a “new” order after 1920 suggests, inter­national violence has required legiti­mization throughout the modern era. The theoretical roots of the modern prohibition of war under inter­national law thus reach back to the 19th century – the supposed age of anarchy.

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Graf von Kielmansegg delivered the laudatory speech at the award ceremony, which took place as part of the annual conference “Law at the Time of Transition”. He praised the high quality of Simon's interdisciplinary work as well as the author's strength of formulation. In his words of thanks, Simon recalled Moltke's execution by the Nazi regime 80 years ago, which reminded him of the importance of defending the law against despotism. One of Kant's statements, which Moltke had read (albeit critically), suited this: law should never be adapted to politics, but politics should always be adapted to law. Afterwards, Simon presented his award-winning book for discussion.

Following the award of the Delbrück Prize in November 2024, the Helmuth James von Moltke Prize is now the second award that Hendrik Simon has received for his book. The monograph has also recently been made available via open access. In August last year, we spoke to Hendrik Simon in the ninth episode of the PRIF talk podcast about his book and the analysis of war discourses and justifications of violence – listen to it at PRIF Blog and wherever podcasts are available.

Further information on the work of the DGWHV and the Helmuth James von Moltke Prize can be found on the Society's website.