The Right of Conquest: The Acquisition of Territory by Force in International Law and Practice / Edition 1

by Sharon Korman

Overview

The notion that a state that emerges victorious in war is entitled to claim sovereignty over conquered territory in virtue of military victory or conquest was a recognized principle of international law until the early years of last century. This study is an inquiry into the place of the right of conquest in international relations since the early sixteenth century, and the causes and consequences of its demise in the twentieth century.

Part 1 examines the theoretical foundations of the right of conquest, its historical importance both in the establishment of the European colonial empires and in the relations between the European states themselves, and provides an analysis of the traditional law of conquest. Part 2 shows how the First World War, which led to the rise of self-determination and to calls for the prohibition of aggressive war, prompted the reconstruction of international law and the consequent rejection of the right of conquest.

A number of case studies of the seizure of territory since 1945 - including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, Goa, the Falkland Islands, East Timor, and Kuwait - are used to evaluate the content and effectiveness of the modern law.

Dr Korman concludes by examining the merits and defects of the abolition of the right of conquest from the standpoints of international order and justice.

The Right of Conquest has been widely praised. It was quoted in the International Court of Justice in 2004, in submissions supporting the UN General Assembly's request for an Advisory Opinion on the legality of Israel's construction of the Separation Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198280071
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/05/1996
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	8.82(w) x 5.66(h) x 1.03(d)

About the Author

Dr. Sharon Korman read International Relations as a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford. She is a former Senior Associate Member of St Antony's College, Oxford. Her Oxford doctorate, on which this book is based, won the British International Studies Association Prize for the Best PhD on International Relations in the United Kingdom.

Editorial Reviews

"This is a very well done book in a familiar...genre....Korman's book is particularly good of its type."—The American Journal of International Law

"A work of sweeping scope...balanced and judicious. The thinking is lucid yet refined. Korman's work is the most up-to-date study of seizure of territories, and the only one that charts the progress of both the ideology and the application of the right of conquest and the political events and legal principles that gradually undermined and finally dismantled it." — Stanford Journal of International Law

"The book...won the affection of this reviewer for the elegance of its style and the lightness with which Dr Korman wears her learning...There can be few more important issues than that addressed by Dr Korman in this elegant and erudite book; and it is hard to imagine a better written analysis of it."—War in History (reviewer: Vaughan Lowe QC, Chichele Professor of Public International Law in the University of Oxford)

"An impressive and deeply analytical book."—International and Comparative Law Quarterly

"...immensely stimulating."—British Year Book of International Law

"...a brilliant study."—French Yearbook of International Law

"[A]n excellent doctrinal history... Korman's intense passion for her subject is clear."—American Journal of International Law (reviewer: Professor David Kennedy, Harvard Law School)

"This stimulating book deals with a long-neglected and often-misunderstood subject."—Edinburgh Law Review

"Written in a lucid style that sets it apart from many works on international law, the work combines meticulous scholarship in international law with forward-looking International Relations thinking."—Non-Offensive Defense & Conversion

From the Publisher