International law can create great expectations in those seeking to rebuild societies that have been torn apart by conflict. For outsiders, international law can mandate or militate against intervention, bolstering or undermining the legitimacy of intervention. International legal principles promise equality, justice and human rights. Yet international law's promises are difficult to fulfil. This volume of essays, first published in 2009, investigates the phenomenon of post-conflict state-building and the engagement of international law in this enterprise. It draws together original essays by scholars and practitioners who consider the many roles international law can play in rehabilitating societies after conflict. The essays explore troubled zones across the world, from Afghanistan to Africa's Great Lakes region, and from Timor-Leste to the Balkans. They identify a range of possibilities for international law in tempering, regulating, legitimating or undermining efforts to rebuild post-conflict societies.
• Explains the theoretical and practical dilemmas confronted when international actors seek to promote democracy, justice, human rights and the rule of law in post-conflict environments • Draws on case studies which cover much of the globe, meaning the book will have appeal beyond specific 'area studies' or 'regional studies' • Contributors include scholars and practitioners, making the book accessible to both scholars with an interest in the field and those engaged in the state-building enterprise
Contents
Introduction Brett Bowden, Hilary Charlesworth and Jeremy Farrall; 1. The 'state-building enterprise': legal doctrine, progress narratives and managerial governance Outi Korhonen; 2. Democratisation, state-building and politics as technology Nehal Bhuta; 3. International law, human rights and the transformative occupation of Iraq Peter G. Danchin; 4. Defining democracy in international institutions Brett Bowden and Hilary Charlesworth; 5. Democracy and legitimation: challenges in the reconstitution of political processes in Afghanistan William Maley; 6. Impossible expectations? The UN security council's promotion of the rule of law after conflict Jeremy Farrall; 7. Legal pluralism and the challenge of building the rule of law in post-conflict states - a case study of Timor-Leste Laura Grenfell; 8. From paper to practice: the role of treaty ratification post-conflict Helen Durham; 9. Selective universality? Human rights accountability of the UN in post-conflict operations Annemarie Devereux; 10. Security starts with the law: the role of international law in the protection of women's security post-conflict Amy Maguire; 11. Grappling in the Great Lakes: the challenges of international justice in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda Phil Clark; 12. Conclusion: hope and humility for weavers with international law John Braithwaite.
Review
Review of the hardback: 'This timely collective work addresses the important question of what role international law plays in post-conflict reconstruction … By presenting a range of perspectives, and even conflicting views, this book appropriately portrays this theme in its complexity and fosters understanding and debate about it. Therein lay its strengths.' The Journal of the Institute of International and Comparative Law
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