International Law and the Construction of the Liberal Peace (Studies in International Law)

This book argues that, since the end of the Cold War, an international community of liberal States has crystallized within the broader international society of sovereign States. Significantly, this international community has demonstrated a tendency to deny non-liberal States their previously held sovereign right to non-intervention. Instead, the international community considers only those States that demonstrate respect for liberal democratic standards to be sovereign equals. Indeed, the international community, motivated by the theory that international peace and security can be only achieved in a world composed of exclusively liberal States, has engaged in a sustained campaign to promote its liberal values to non-liberal States. This campaign has had (and continues to have) a profound impact upon the structure and content of international law. In light of this, this book deploys the concepts of the international society and the international community in order to construct an explanatory framework that can enable us to understand better recent changes to the political and legal structure of the world order and why violations of international peace and security occur. It is a unique and topical study that will be of interest to those working in the fields of international law and international relations. (Series: Studies in International Law - Vol. 47)