International Relations Theory, International Law, and the Regime Governing Atrocities in Internal Conflicts

Bibliographic Data

ID9548432
AuthorsKenneth W Abbott (0000-0002-5540-1683, Arizona State University, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume93
Issue2
Pages361-379
Publication date1999-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of International Law (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9300 • E-ISSN: 2161-7953
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2997995
OpenAlexW2032010420
LanguageEN
Citations received15

Over the last ten years, international relations (IR) theory, a branch of political science, has animated some of the most exciting scholarship in international law.1 If a true joint discipline has not yet emerged,2 scholars in both fields have clearly established the value of interdisciplinary cross-fertilization. Yet IR—like international law—comprises several distinct theoretical approaches or “methods.” While this complexity makes interactions between the disciplines especially rich, it also makes them difficult to explore concisely. This essay thus constitutes something of a minisymposium in itself: it summarizes the four principal schools of IR theory—conventionally identified as “realist,” “institutionalist,” “liberal” and “constructivist”—and then applies them to the norms and institutions governing serious violations of human dignity during internal conflicts (the “atrocities regime”)

International law · International relations · International relations theory · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law

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