A Century of Anarchy? War, Normativity, and the Birth of Modern International Order. By Hendrick Simon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024. 432p. £110.00 cloth.
Résumé
In his book, Simon uses the arguably “hard case” of the nineteenth century to offer a meticulously documented and sophistically argued re-examination of the ways in which post-Napoleonic Europe struggled with the notion of ius ad bellum. By examining a vast array of heterogeneous sources representing governmental, legal, historical, and philosophical perspectives, Simon effectively demonstrates the significant divergence of opinions regarding the circumstances under which states had the right to engage in warfare.