Professor of Law at the S. J. Quinney School of Law, University of Utah.

This book examines the relationship between imperialism and international law. It argues that colonial confrontation was central to the formation of international law and, in particular, its founding concept, sovereignty. Traditional histories of the discipline present colonialism and non-European peoples as peripheral concerns. By contrast, Anghie argues that international law has always been animated by the ‘civilizing mission’ - the project of governing non-European peoples. This book will be of interest to students of international law and relations, history, post-colonial studies and development studies.

Acknowledgements; Table of cases; Table of treaties; Introduction; 1. Francisco de Vitoria and the colonial origins of international law; (i) Introduction; (ii) Vitoria and the problem of universal law; (iii) War, sovereignty and the transformation of the Indian; (iv) Conclusion; 2. Finding the peripheries: colonialism in nineteenth-century international law; (i) Introduction; (ii) Elements of positivist jurisprudence; (iii) Defining and excluding the uncivilized; (iv) Native personality and managing the colonial encounter; (v) Reconceptualizing sovereignty; 3. Colonialism and the birth of international institutions: the mandate of the League of Nations; (i) Introduction; (ii) Creation of the mandate system; (iii) The league of nations and the new international law; (iv) The mandate system and colonial problems; (v) The mandate system and the construction of the non-European state; (vi) Government, sovereignty, and economy; (vii) The mandate and the discussion of sovereignty; (viii) The legacies of the mandate system: toward the present; (ix) Conclusion; 4. Sovereignty and the post-colonial state; (i) Introduction; (ii) Decolonization and the universality of international law; (iii) Development, nationalism and the post-colonial state; (iv) Development and the reform of international law; (v) Permanent sovereignty over natural resource and the new international economic order; (vi) The 1962 resolution on PSNR; (vii) The 1974 charter of rights and duties among states; (viii) Colonialism and the emergence of transnational law; (ix) Sources of law and international contracts; (x) Overview and conclusions; 5. Governance and globalization, civilization and commerce; (i) Introduction; (ii) Good governance and the third world; (iii) Governance, human rights and the universal; (iv) International financial institutions, human rights and good governance; (v) International financial institutions and the mandate system; (vi) Conclusions and overview; 6. On making war on the terrorists: imperialism as self-defense; (i) Introduction; (ii) The war against terrorism (WAT); (iii) The United States and imperial democracy; (iv) Historical origins: war, conquest and self-defense; (v) Terrorism and the United Nations: a Victorian moment; (vi) Terrorism, self-defense and third world sovereignty; Conclusion.