The Internationalists

How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World

By: Oona A. Hathaway, Scott J. Shapiro

Narrated by: Amanda Carlin

A bold and provocative history of the men who fought to outlaw war and how an often overlooked treaty signed in 1928 was among the most transformative events in modern history.

On a hot summer afternoon in 1928, the leaders of the world assembled in Paris to outlaw war. Within the year, the treaty signed that day, known as the Peace Pact, had been ratified by nearly every state in the world. War, for the first time in history, had become illegal the world over. But the promise of that summer day was fleeting. Within a decade of its signing, each state that had gathered in Paris to renounce war was at war. And in the century that followed, the Peace Pact was dismissed as an act of folly and an unmistakable failure. This book argues that that understanding is inaccurate and that the Peace Pact ushered in a sustained march toward peace that lasts to this day.

The Internationalists tells the story of the Peace Pact by placing it in the long history of international law from the 17th century through the present, tracing this rich history through a fascinating and diverse array of lawyers, politicians, and intellectuals - Hugo Grotius, Nishi Amane, Salmon Levinson, James Shotwell, Sumner Welles, Carl Schmitt, Hersch Lauterpacht, and Sayyid Qutb. It tells of a centuries-long struggle of ideas over the role of war in a just world order. It details the brutal world of conflict the Peace Pact helped extinguish and the subsequent era where tariffs and sanctions take the place of tanks and gunships.

The Internationalists examines with renewed appreciation an international system that has outlawed wars of aggression and brought unprecedented stability to the world map. Accessible and gripping, this book will change the way we view the history of the 20th century - and how we must work together to protect the global order the internationalists fought to make possible.

©2017 Oona A. Hathaway (P)2017 Simon & Schuster Audio

Invaluable for the Present.

This is a necessary read and/or listen for any and every audiophile and bibliophile, especially those with the habit of news.

Chock-full of information

I learned more about international law reading this book than I had heard about in the entire rest of my life. This book is densely packed with information that I only had a vague notion of before. Almost none of it I had learned about in any history class I'd ever taken. They weave their case with a thousand strands, and ties it up so neatly you can't help but agree with their conclusions. My only complaint was the narrator was a bit dry.

Incredible story of the International Law!

Its a incredible story how the Paris peace Pact changed the world after First world war and is almost forgotten this time. Must listen for the interbational lawyers!

Highly recommend.

The Internationalist offers a smart history of war covering centuries why still connecting today's relevance.

cart before horse

I was unconvinced of the significance of the treaty compared to the hegemony of the United States which the authors never tried to disentangle. ultimately I found the authors causes and effects backwards. I read the book knowing I disagreed but hoping to be convinced otherwise. I was also very excited about the conclusion that outlawing war has led to the proliferation of failed States and expected a serious treatment of whether that was a net positive but the authors never wrestled with it in a serious manner.