Immanuel Kant’s Perpetual Peace (1795) might still be the most renowned philosophical voice that outlines – with mild irony – the relevance of the law (of nations) for “World Peace”. Borrowing from Kant’s insight that “war … is only the sad recourse in the state of nature (where there is no tribunal which could judge with the force of law)” (Sixth Preliminary Article), the nineteenth century saw an increasing number of successful attempts by scholars, politicians, and peace activists to put into practice third-party tribunals which arbitrated disputes between states by drawing on international law. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: June 2015
Liberal Democratic Constitutionalism 25 Years After the End of the Cold War: A Visit to Moscow
In June 2015, Mattias Kumm was invited by the Institute of Social and Economic (ISEPR), a think tank with close links to the Kremlin to contribute to a research report entitled “Democracies 21: A Paradigm Shift”. He wrote a contribution with the title “Liberal Constitutional Democracy 25 Years After the End of the Cold War” that was subsequently included in the report by ISEPR. Continue reading
Europe’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice – A Market Endeavor?
What does market regulation have to do with the formation of an EU policy Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ), a domain so inherently connected with human rights protection and constitutional safeguards? After all, the hallmark of the AFSJ project is that of the suppression of crime, terrorism and of ensuring a high level of security throughout Europe, far removed from the essentials of the EU internal market and its insistence on economic freedoms. Continue reading