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Fundamental Institutions and International Organizations: Solidarist Architecture

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International Organization in the Anarchical Society

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in International Relations ((PSIR))

Abstract

This chapter argues that the establishment and development of the UN and the ICC have shaped and changed the constitutive principles and reproducing practices of war (restricted and rationalized for common purposes), great power management (providing for concerted action) and international law (providing for collective enforcement). Furthermore, the UN and the ICC have played an important part in the evolution of a set of fundamental institutions which are constitutive of a solidarist international society as traditionally defined in the Grotian-solidarist theory and thought, namely, humanitarian intervention, international criminal jurisdiction and (various forms of) international trusteeship. These institutions involve practices which are potentially constitutive of international humanitarian government and collective enforcement, but they have also given rise to considerable turbulence as states and other actors try to balance pluralist and solidarist concerns as well as more immediate political interests in complex institutional settings.

Earlier versions of this chapter were presented at the International Studies Association Annual Conventions in San Francisco 2013, New Orleans 2015 and Atlanta 2016, and at the 8th Pan-European Conference on International Relations in Warsaw 2013, as the book project unfolded. I would like to thank Christian Brütsch, Dan Warner, Matthew Weinert, Peter Wilson and Cornelia Navari for helpful comments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Bull (1966) and (for a broader use of the terms) Bull (1977, 148–151, 156–158 and 238–240).

  2. 2.

    Bull (1966, 51–73). For discussions and developments of the distinction and the connote one of positivism and naturalism, (see Vincent 1974, 283–285 and 340–349; Wheeler 1992, 2000, 21–52; Knudsen 1999, 48–91; Buzan 2004, 45–50, 56–57; de Almeida 2006; Weinert 2011; Buzan 2014, 16, 83–87, 89–167).

  3. 3.

    Bull (1966); Bull (1977, 77–98). The most extensive and authoritative account of the pluralist theory of international society is Jackson’s (2000)The Global Covenant.

  4. 4.

    On the solidarist conception of international society, (see also Kingsbury and Roberts 1990, 1–64; Vincent 1990, 241–256; Wheeler 1992, 2000, 21–52; Knudsen 1999, 48–91; Buzan 2014). As for the original formulation of the solidarist conception, the most important source besides Grotius’ work is Hersch Lauterpacht’s comprehensive authorship.

  5. 5.

    See, for instance, Lauterpacht (1975/1946, 307–365, especially 354–358).

  6. 6.

    This point can also be made on the basis of a distinction between constitutive and regulative rules. See Sørensen (1999, 590–604).

  7. 7.

    Humanitarian intervention can be defined as dictatorial or coercive interference in the sphere of jurisdiction of a sovereign state to protect or relieve individuals facing genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or a humanitarian disaster (Knudsen 1999, 2013).

  8. 8.

    Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 17.

  9. 9.

    Nationals of non-parties may be tried at the ICC for crimes committed on the territory of state parties. Furthermore, the UN Security Council may refer any situation of suspected crimes to the ICC. Due to the veto right of the great powers in the Security Council only their citizens are effectively out of the reach of the court, unless they commit crimes on the territory of a state party to the 1998 Rome Statute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Tonny Brems Knudsen

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  1. Tonny Brems Knudsen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Tonny Brems Knudsen

  2. University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK

    Cornelia Navari

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Brems Knudsen, T. (2019). Fundamental Institutions and International Organizations: Solidarist Architecture. In: Brems Knudsen, T., Navari, C. (eds) International Organization in the Anarchical Society. Palgrave Studies in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71622-0_8

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