Interwar German Theories of International Law: The Psychoanalytical and Phenomenologicial Perspectives of Hans Kelsen and Carl Schmitt

After 1918, the social foundations of legal positivism and formalism in Central Europe-especially where German was spoken-were shattered. The political neutrality of the legal profession had previously allowed it to equate legality and legitimacy in the form of the monarchical constitution. The breakdown of the traditional order led to a crisis of constitutional legitimacy. Power seemed destined to fall directly into the hands of the masses and neither traditional, liberal, nor conservative bourgeois (professional middle-class) opinion was comfortable about this prospect. There followed a profound debate about the nature of the state and political society

COVID-19 and The Populist Governments Approach to Pandemic Management: A Nuanced Analysis

This article addresses international law discourse in the post- COVID-19 era. The first part engages with questions about China, its liability, and the complex legal discourse on causation. The present position of the WHO is that COVID-19 is a zoonotic virus like SARS. The nature of the spillover event remains unclear, but the first human case was identified at some point in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. For the reasons outlined in Part I, the scholarly consensus has been that claims against China appear unjustifiable. The two case studies in Part II demonstrate the factors involved in local pandemic management in two major countries, the United Kingdom and India. Part III discusses the issues of multiple causes and overdetermination, discourse on international law, and the resumption of progress

The Continuing Influence of Kelsen on the General Perception of the Discipline of International Law

The article explores the contribution of the purity of Kelsen's theory of international law to the exclusion of ethics and political analysis from the workfield of the international lawyer. It is argued that Kelsen's own approach is an epistemologically grounded argument against involvement in the emotional dimension of political relations, which he dismisses as irrational. This is what justifies professional evasiveness in the face of the continuing self-assertiveness of the nation-state. Kelsen is now such a formidable obstacle to the development of the discipline because the profession lacks his general intellectual culture and so is unable to question the foundations of his system

Israel’s Legal Right to Exist and the Principle of the Self-determination of the Palestinian People?

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: "Israel’s Legal Right to Exist and the Principle of the Self-determination of the Palestinian People?", which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12007. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving