Foreign relations law and public international law are two closely related academic fields that tend to speak past each other. As this innovative volume shows, the two are closely interrelated and depend on each other for their mutual construction and identity. A better understanding of this relationship is of vital importance for upholding important constitutional values like democracy, the rule of law and the protection of human rights, while enabling states to engage in meaningful forms of international cooperation. The book takes a close look at the encounters between the two fields and offers perspectives for a constructive engagement between the two. Collectively, the contributions argue that the delimitation between the two fields occurs in a hybrid zone of interaction which requires both bridges and boundaries: bridges for the construction of the relationship between the two fields, and boundaries for preserving key normative expectations of both domestic and international law. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

DerAutor untersucht analytisches Potential und normative Konsequenzen der volkerrechtlichen Konstitutionalisierungslehre. Anhand der Begriffsgeschichte zeigt er zunachst auf, wie sich der Verfassungsbegriff aussagekraftig auf das Volkerrecht ubertragen lasst. Sodann spurt er Vorlaufern und philosophischen Wurzeln nach und sucht nach neuen Anknupfungspunkten fur dieKonstitutionalisierungsthese. Vor diesem Hintergrund unterzieht er die Hierarchisierung und Objektivierung des Volkerrechts sowie die Bindung von internationalen Organisationen an Menschenrechte als mogliche Verfassungsmerkmale einer kritischen Auseinandersetzung. Der Autor kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass Konstitutionalisierung vor allem ein Prozess des Identitatswandels und der Selbstverstrickung ist, der Begrundungslasten fur die juristische Argumentation schafft. Methodisch wird die Genese konstitutioneller Normen als Bildung allgemeiner Rechtsgrundsatze in Auseinandersetzung mit konstruktivistischen Ansatzen in den Internationalen Beziehungen erklart.

For many centuries, thinkers have tried to understand and to conceptualize political and legal order beyond the boundaries of sovereign territories. Their concepts, deeply entangled with ideas of theology, state formation, and human nature, form the bedrock of todays theoretical discourses on international law. This volume engages with models of early international legal thought from Machiavelli to Hegel before international law in the modern sense became an academic discipline of its own. The interplay of system and order serves as a leitmotiv throughout the book, helping to link historical models to contemporary discourse. Part I of the book covers a diverse collection of thinkers in order to scrutinize and contextualize their respective models of the international realm in light of general legal and political philosophy. Part II maps the historical development of international legal thought more generally by distilling common themes and ideas, such as the relationship between universality and particularity, the role of the state, the influence of power and economic interests on the law, and the contingencies of time, space and technical opportunities. In the current political climate, where it appears that the reinvigorated concept of the nation state as an ordering force competes with internationalist thinking, the problems at issue in the classic theories point to contemporary questions: is an international system without central power possible? How can a normative order come about if there is no central force to order relations between states? These essays show that uncovering the history of international law can offer ways in which to envisage its future.

Foreign relations law and public international law are two closely related academic fields that tend to speak past each other. As this innovative volume shows, the two are closely interrelated and depend on each other for their mutual construction and identity. A better understanding of this relationship is of vital importance for upholding important constitutional values like democracy, the rule of law and the protection of human rights, while enabling states to engage in meaningful forms of international cooperation. The book takes a close look at the encounters between the two fields and offers perspectives for a constructive engagement between the two. Collectively, the contributions argue that the delimitation between the two fields occurs in a hybrid zone of interaction which requires both bridges and boundaries: bridges for the construction of the relationship between the two fields, and boundaries for preserving key normative expectations of both domestic and international law. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.