Legal History

US International Lawyers in the Interwar Years

By A Forgotten Crusade
Cambridge University Press August 2012

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781107016439
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publication
August 2012
Format
Hardback , 99 pages
Jurisdiction
U.S. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

In the interwar years, a group of reform-minded American scholars of international law, such as Quincy Wright and Manley Hudson, challenged traditional international law and strove to establish a 'new' international law in which outlawry of war was institutionalized. They highly valued the Covenant of the League of Nations and the Kellogg–Briand Pact and presented legal arguments in support of them. These scholars were activists in their efforts to promote their views to policy makers and the public. In the US international law community, however, a different group of scholars, notably Edwin Borchard, vehemently opposed the progressive scholars. US International Lawyers in the Interwar Years chronicles those involved in the debate and provides a detailed account of their scholarly works and activities that hitherto have not had the recognition that they deserve.

• Use of unpublished primary sources will appeal to those who are interested in the history of international law and the role of lawyers as social engineers

• Provides examples of how law and politics affect and influence each other and how international norms change over time

• Traces the origins of the Pacific War through legal discussions and debates between the US and Japan, thereby revisiting diplomatic relations and international order in the interwar years from a legal perspective

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
ix
Introduction
1
1             The rise of a new international law
12
Root, Scott and the American Society of International Law
12
New and different views: Reinsch, Borchard and Fenwick
17
World War I and division
21
Rising stars from the war era: Garner and Wright
26
Reconstruction or departure: the Committee for the Advancement of International Law
29
2             Toward a more ambitious international law
37
The worldwide configuration
37
The Covenant of the League of Nations and the Washington Conference
43
A distinction between political and legal questions?
50
A happy synthesis: from theory to practice
56
3             Can international law master war?
64
Intellectual discussions on the legal limitations of war
64
The Geneva Protocol
71
Outlawry of war and the Kellogg–Briand Pact
74
Testing the ideals of the Pact: diplomatic repercussions
83
4             Half-victory: international law and the Manchurian Incident
92
Japan’s pattern of dissent
93
A treaty-based approach to China
98
Theoretical arguments over the Manchurian conflict
103
The Stimson Doctrine: a great innovation?
112
A new treaty system: work at the League of Nations
116
5             For better or for worse: the debate over neutrality
123
Stimson and Wright vs. Moore and Borchard
124
Views on neutrality from abroad
131
The American Society of International Law in 1935
137
Beyond the Neutrality Act of 1935
141
6             International law in a lawless world
149
The challenge of military hostilities
149
The legal situation in the Far East
153
Cordell Hull and the study of international law
159
International law during the war in Europe
165
A fresh round of criticism
171
7             Reconstructing the world order once again
177
Debates over the postwar international organization
177
War of aggression as crime
188
Changing orientation in the discipline: from international law to international relations
199
Conclusion
205
Appendix:     List of International Lawyers in the Interwar Period
217
Bibliography
218
Index
242

About the Author

Hatsue Shinohara
Waseda University, Japan

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