Cambridge University Press
0521662052 - War and the Law of Nations - A General History - by Stephen C. Neff
Frontmatter/Prelims

WAR AND THE LAW OF NATIONS

This book is a history of war, from the standpoint of international law, from the beginning of history to the present day. Its primary focus is on legal conceptions of war as such, rather than on the substantive or technical aspects of the law of war. It tells the story, in narrative form, of the interplay through the centuries between, on the one hand, legal ideas about war and, on the other hand, state practice in warfare. Neff covers the emergence, in various ancient societies, of an association between justice and warfare, which matured into the just-war doctrine of the Middle Ages. He then traces the decline of this conception of war in favour of a view of war as an instrument of statecraft, culminating in the evolution of what became known as the legal institution of war in the nineteenth century. There is also coverage of the much-neglected topic of measures short of war, most notably of reprisals, but also including the evolution of self-defence doctrines and practices over the years. International legal aspects of civil wars are also considered, notably the development of recognition of belligerency and of insurgency in the nineteenth century. The attempt by the League of Nations to restrict war is analysed, with an explanation of the deeper reasons for its failure and the way in which this paved the way for the substantial discarding, after the Second World War, of war as a legal institution, in favour of the alternate conception of aggression-and-self-defence. Treatment of new approaches to civil wars after 1945 and of the advent of war against terrorism brings the story to the present day.

STEPHEN C. NEFF is a Reader in Public International Law at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of two previous books on international legal history: Friends But No Allies: Economic Liberalism and the Law of Nations (1990) and The Rights and Duties of Neutrals: A General History (2000).

WAR AND THE LAW OF

NATIONS

A General History

by

STEPHEN C. NEFF

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge, CB2 2RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521662055

© Stephen C. Neff 2005

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2005

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

Neff, Stephen C.
War and the law of nations: a general history / by Stephen C. Neff.
p.   cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-521-66205-2 (hardback)
1. War (International law) – History.   I. Title.

KZ6385.N44 2005
341.6–dc22   2004061769

ISBN-13 978-0-521-66205-5 hardback

ISBN-10 0-521-66205-2 hardback

To my nephews and nieces:

War holds a great place in history, and it is not to be supposed that men will soon give it up – in spite of the protests which it arouses and the horror which it inspires – because it appears to be the only possible issue of disputes which threaten the existence of States, their liberty, their vital interests.

– Institute of International Law,
Preface to the Manual on the Laws of War on Land (1880)

CONTENTS

PREFACE

My great thanks go to my home institution, the University of Edinburgh School of Law, for sabbatical periods that were essential to the completion of this project – and also for intellectual stimulation in countless ways. The hospitality of two fine institutions was invaluable to me: the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public and International Law, in Heidelberg, Germany (in 2000); and the George Washington University School of Law in Washington, DC (in 2003–4). For research and editorial assistance, I am grateful for the invaluable services of Dimitra Nassimpian, Ashley Theunissen, Kyle Sammin, Paul Margolis and Ozan Jaquette (and friends). In dealing with the perils of the New Technology, I have had the invaluable assistance of Roger Marlowe and of my brother Tom Neff. The following people (in prosaic alphabetical order) have assisted or inspired in manifold ways that were sometimes indirect but always much appreciated: Adnan Amkhan, Alan Boyle, Michael Byers, James Crawford, Yoram Dinstein, Thomas Giegerich, William Gilmore, Christine Gray, Susan Karamanian, Frederick Shiels, Ralph Steinhardt, Simonetta Stirling and Colin Warbrick. Only inspiration, and not errors, may be put to their charge. Finally, a most special thanks to the long-suffering staff at Cambridge University Press – to Leigh Mueller for heroic editing labours, and most specially to Finola O’Sullivan for her unique (and all too rare) combination of patience and vision.

© Cambridge University Press