International Legal Consensus and the Control of Excess State Violence

The dramatic increase in the level of global governance through multilateral institutions is leading to changes in the theoretical underpinnings of international law and its role in contemporary world politics. In specific, well-defined areas of international law, states have begun to recognize the authority of international consensus over individual state consent as the foundation of legal obligation. Specifically, states have begun to develop a consensus around the control of “excess state violence,” defined as a level of violence exceeding that which international political actors consider to be legitimate for pursuing national interests. This includes crimes against humanity, genocide, and grave breaches of the laws of war. In a major shift from twentieth-century practice, states are increasingly recognizing this body of international law as having universal applicability considered binding on all states regardless of whether they are parties to specific treaties

Crimes against humanity · Customary international law · Genocide · International law · International relations · Obligation · Political science · Politics · Public international law · State (computer science · War crime · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law · War, Ethics, and Justification

• International Law and International Relations Theory

  Open Access•Anne-Marie Slaughter, Andrew S Tulumello et al.•American Journal of International…•1998

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• International Norm Dynamics and Political Change

  Open Access•Martha Finnemore, Kathryn Sikkink•International Organization•1998

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