Writings on War

Writings on War

by Carl Schmitt (Author), Carl Schmitt (Author), Timothy Nunan (Translator)

Synopsis

Writings on War collects three of Carl Schmitt's mostimportant and controversial texts, here appearing in English forthe first time: The Turn to the Discriminating Concept ofWar, The Gro raum Order of International Law, andThe International Crime of the War of Aggression and thePrinciple Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege .

Written between 1937 and 1945, these works articulate Schmitt'sconcerns throughout this period of war and crisis, addressing themajor failings of the League of Nations, and presenting Schmitt'sown conceptual history of these years of disaster for internationaljurisprudence. For Schmitt, the jurisprudence of Versailles andNuremberg both fail to provide for a stable international system, insofar as they attempt to impose universal standards of'humanity' on a heterogeneous world, and treat efforts torevise the status quo as 'criminal' acts of war. In place ofthese flawed systems, Schmitt argues for a new planetary order inwhich neither collective security organizations nor 19th centuryempires, but Schmittian 'Reichs' will be the leading subjectof international law.

Writings on War will be essential reading for those seeking tounderstand the work of Carl Schmitt, the history of internationallaw and the international system, and interwar European history.Not only do these writings offer an erudite point of entry into thedynamic and charged world of interwar European jurisprudence; theyalso speak with prescience to a 21st century world struggling withsimilar issues of global governance and international law.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Edition: 1
Publisher: Polity
Published: 24 Jun 2011

ISBN 10: 0745652972
ISBN 13: 9780745652979

Media Reviews
Altogether a most useful addition to the body of Schmitt s works. Survival An advanced piece of historical scholarship which continues to impact the often nuanced political and legal relationship between states and between states and individuals. Despite the author s obvious intransient opinion about the Geneva League of Nations and Western liberal democratic values, this book offers sound criticisms of the international legal order of the times and is thus a pillar of knowledge for students and scholars of international law and relations. Central European Journal of International and Security Studies Warning as it does against the pitfalls of arrogant erudition, the politicization of religion and the flight into elitist mysticism, this book contains lessons for the followers of all creeds. Muslim World The translation of Carl Schmitt's Writings on War is a remarkable achievement. Timothy Nunan has introduced, translated and annotated the text with considerable skill and aplomb. Nunan's excellent introduction makes clear the painfully compelling relevance of these essays on sovereignty, enmity and empire for contemporary audiences--relevance that is not likely to diminish over the course of time. John McCormick, University of Chicago Carl Schmitt's direct assault on liberal views of international law and politics generated massive controversy when they first appeared in German. Now available in an accessible translation, Anglophone readers finally get a chance to understand what the fuss was all about. Zeroing in on the Achilles' heel of liberal international law, Schmitt ultimately threw the baby out with the bath water by transforming his occasionally astute observations into a full-fledged attack. Despite his flawed normative and political aspirations, Schmitt's views provide a provocative challenge those of us committed to strengthening international law and global governance simply have to take up. William E. Scheuerman, Indiana University
Author Bio
Carl Schmitt (1888 - 1985) is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important and influential political theorists of the twentieth century.