Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T15:45:57.509Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mingling and Strategic Augmentation of International Legal Obligations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2020

Tonya L. Putnam
Get access

Abstract

Managing foreign affairs is in no small measure about anticipating the actions (and non-actions) of others, and about taking steps to limit the unexpected—and the undesired. Law has long been recognized as important to these tasks. Nevertheless, standard IR treatments often overlook important properties of law, even when trying to account for international law's effects on behavior. Chief among these overlooked properties is the fact that legal rules are formulated for general use, which means their provisions lack determinate meaning in relation to the full range of facts they may be applied to. Selecting and using legal rules to guide or assess behavior thus requires interpretation. Self-interested actors may differ regarding the applicability, scope, or meaning of individual rules, and still more so where multiple legal rules are in play. In situations where political stakes are high, powerful actors may not be content to leave all options on the table. Instead they may use interpretative tactics to mingle obligations from different agreements and, where needed, to augment relevant legal obligations in efforts to prospectively ensure, in the mode of Riker's heresthetics, that interlocutors feel compelled by legal circumstances to enact the more powerful actor's preferences. I demonstrate how agreement mingling and augmentation function in complex legal environments by reexaming US efforts to insulate its citizens from unwanted exercises of jurisdiction by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Keywords

International lawherestheticsextraditioninternational criminal court
Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , Winter 2020 , pp. 31 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aggarwal, Vinod K. 1998. Reconciling Multiple Institutions: Bargaining, Linkages, and Nesting. In Institutional Designs for a Complex World: Bargaining, Linkages, and Nesting edited by Aggarwal, Vinod K., 1–31. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Alter, Karen J., and Meunier, Sophie. 2009. The Politics of International Regime Complexity. Perspectives on Politics 7 (1):13–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Axelrod, Mark. 2014. Clash of the Treaties: Responding to Institutional Interplay in European Community–Chile Swordfish Negotiations. European Journal of International Relations 20 (4):987–1013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barton, John, Goldstein, Judith, Josling, Timothy, and Steinberg, Richard. 2006. The Evolution of the Trade Regime: Politics, Law, and Economics of the GATT and the WTO. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Benvenisti, Eyal, and Downs, George W.. 2007. The Empire's New Clothes: Political Economy and the Fragmentation of International Law. Stanford Law Review 60 (2):595–631.Google Scholar
Bix, Brian. 2003. Can Theories of Meaning and Reference Solve the Problem of Legal Determinacy? Ratio Juris 16 (3):281–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bogdan, Attila. 2008. The United States and the International Criminal Court: Avoiding Jurisdiction Through Bilateral Agreements in Reliance on Article 98. International Criminal Law Review 8 (1–2):1–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busch, Marc. 2007. Overlapping Institutions, Forum Shopping, and Dispute Settlement in International Trade. International Organization 61 (4):735–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carney, Stephen A. 2011. Allied Participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Volume 59. Government Printing Office. Available at <https://history.army.mil/html/books/059/59-3-1/CMH_59-3-1.pdf>..>Google Scholar
Chayes, Abram, and Chayes, Antonia Handler. 1993. On Compliance. International Organization 47 (2):175–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chuang, Janie. 2005. The United States as Global Sheriff: Using Unilateral Sanctions to Combat Human Trafficking. Michigan Journal of International Law 27 (1):437–94.Google Scholar
Cleveland, William S., and Devlin, Susan J.. 1988. Locally Weighted Regression: An Approach to Regression Analysis by Local Fitting. Journal of the American Statistical Association 83 (403):596–610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copelovitch, Mark S., and Putnam, Tonya L.. 2014. Design in Context: Existing International Agreements and New Cooperation. International Organization 68 (2):471–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, Christina L. 2009. Overlapping Institutions in Trade Policy. Perspectives on Politics 7 (1):25–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickson, Julie. 2001. Evaluation and Legal Theory. Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Diehl, Paul F., and Ku, Charlotte. 2010. The Dynamics of International Law. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downs, George W., and Iida, Keisuke. 1994. Assessing the Theoretical Case Against Collective Security. In Collective Security Beyond the Cold War, edited by Downs, George W., 17–40. University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drezner, Daniel W. 2009. The Power and Peril of International Regime Complexity. Perspectives on Politics 7 (1):65–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Efrat, Asif, and Newman, Abraham L.. 2016. Deciding to Defer: The Importance of Fairness in Resolving Transnational Jurisdictional Conflicts. International Organization 70 (2):409–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Endicott, Timothy. 1994. Putting Interpretation in Its Place. Law and Philosophy 13 (4):451–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evangelista, Matthew. 2001. Norms, Heresthetics, and the End of the Cold War. Journal of Cold War Studies 3 (1):5–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, Henry, and Newman, Abraham. 2016. The New Interdependence Approach: Theoretical Development and Empirical Demonstration. Review of International Political Economy 23 (5):713–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fearon, James D. 1998. Bargaining, Enforcement, and International Cooperation. International Organization 52 (2):269–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fish, Stanley. 1980. Is There a Text in this Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Fiss, Owen. 1982. Objectivity and Interpretation. Stanford Law Review 34 (4):739–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gehring, Thomas, and Faude, Benjamin. 2013. The Dynamics of Regime Complexes: Microfoundations and Systemic Effects. Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations 19 (1):119–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, Judith, Kahler, Miles, Keohane, Robert O., and Slaughter, Anne-Marie. 2000. Introduction: Legalization and World Politics. International Organization 54 (3):385–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hadfield, Gillian, and Weingast, Barry. 2012. What Is Law? A Coordination Model of the Characteristics of Legal Order. Journal of Legal Analysis 4 (2):471–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafner-Burton, Emilie, and Tsutsui, Kiyoteru. 2007. Justice Lost! The Failure of International Human Rights Law to Matter Where Needed Most. Journal of Peace Research 44 (4):407–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halliday, Terence C., and Shaffer, Gregory. 2015. eds. Transnational Legal Orders. In Transnational Legal Orders edited by Halliday, Terence C. and Shaffer, Gregory, 3–72. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helfer, Laurence R. 1999. Forum Shopping for Human Rights. University of Pennsylvania Law Review 148 (2):285–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helfer, Laurence R. 2004. Regime Shifting: the TRIPS Agreement and New Dynamics of International Intellectual Property Lawmaking. Yale Journal of International Law 29 (1):1–84.Google Scholar
Henkin, Louis. 1979. How Nations Behave: Law and Foreign Policy. Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Higgins, Rosalyn. 1994. Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hurd, Ian. 2017. How to Do Things with International Law. Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jara, Gabriela. 2010. Alternative Mechanisms for Immunity from the International Criminal Court: Expanding US Jurisdiction in South America and Europe. Senior Honors Thesis, Department of Political Science, Columbia University.Google Scholar
Johnstone, Ian. 2005. The Power of Interpretive Communities. In Power in Global Governance edited by Barnett, Michael and Duvall, Raymond, 185–204. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jupille, Joseph, Mattli, Walter, and Snidal, Duncan. 2013. Institutional Choice and Global Commerce. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keitner, Chemene. 2001–2002. Crafting the International Criminal Court: Trials and Tribulations of Article 98 (2). UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs 6:215–71.Google Scholar
Kelley, Judith. 2007. Who Keeps International Commitments and Why? The International Criminal Court and Bilateral Nonsurrender Agreements. American Political Science Review 101 (3):573–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 1984. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 1996. International Relations and International Law: Two Optics. Harvard International Law Journal 38 (2):487–502.Google Scholar
Kinsella, Helen M. 2011. The Image Before the Weapon: A Critical History of the Distinction Between Combatant and Civilian. Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara. 2005. Contracting Around International Uncertainty. American Political Science Review 99 (4):549–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara. 2007. If Only Half of International Agreements Have Dispute Resolution Provisions, Which Half Needs Explaining? The Journal of Legal Studies 36 (1):189–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara, Lipson, Charles, and Snidal, Duncan. 2001. The Rational Design of International Institutions. International Organization 55 (4):761–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koskenniemi, Martti. 2006. From Apology to Utopia: The Structure of International Legal Argument. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krisch, Nico. 2005. International Law in Times of Hegemony: Unequal Power and the Shaping of the International Legal Order. European Journal of International Law 16 (3):369–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marmor, Andrei. 2005 Interpretation and Legal Theory. Hart.Google Scholar
Mason, R. Chuck. 2012. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA): What Is It, and How Has It Been Utilized? CRS Report 7-5700, RL34531.Google Scholar
McAdams, Richard. 2000. A Focal Point Theory of Expressive Law. Virginia Law Review 86: 1649–729.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLean, Iain. 2002. William H. Riker and the Invention of Heresthetic(s). British Journal of Political Science 32 (3):535–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Marvin, and Scheinman, Lawrence. 2003. Israel, India, and Pakistan: Engaging the Non-NPT States in the Nonproliferation Regime. Arms Control Today 33 (10):15–20.Google Scholar
Morrow, James D. 2007. When Do States Follow the Laws of War? American Political Science Review 101 (3):559–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, Abraham. 2008. Protectors of Privacy: Regulating Personal Data in the Global Economy. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Noorudin, Ifran, and Payton, Autumn Lockwood. 2010. The Dynamics of Influence in International Politics: The ICC, BIAs, and Economic Sanctions. Journal of Peace Research 47 (6):711–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norton, William J. 1975. United States Obligations under Status of Forces Agreements: A New Method of Extradition. Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law 5 (1):1–76.Google Scholar
Nuñez-Mietz, Fernando. 2016. Lawyering Compliance with International Law: Legal Advisers in the “War on Terror.” European Journal of International Security 1 (2):215–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paine, Scott C. 1989. Persuasion, Manipulation, and Dimension. The Journal of Politics 51 (1):36–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puig, Sergio. 2014. International Regime Complexity and Economic Law Enforcement. Journal of International Economic Law 17 (3):491–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pulkowski, Dirk. 2014. The Law and Politics of International Regime Conflict. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, Tonya L. 2016. Courts Without Borders: Law, Politics, and US Extraterritoriality. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Raustiala, Kal, and Victor, David G.. 2004. The Regime Complex for Plant Genetic Resources. International Organization 58 (2):277–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raz, Joseph. 2009. Between Authority and Interpretation: On the Theory of Law and Practical Reason. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ribando, Clare M. 2006. Article 98 and Sanctions on Foreign Aid to Latin America. Congressional Research Service Report, RL33337.Google Scholar
Riker, William. 1986. The Art of Political Manipulation. Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Sandholtz, Wayne, and Sweet, Alec Stone. 2004. Law, Politics, and International Governance. In The Politics of International Law, edited by Reus-Smit, Christian, 238–71. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schabas, William A. 2004. United States Hostility to the International Criminal Court: It's All About the Security Council. European Journal of International Law 15 (4):701–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheffer, David. 2005. Article 98 (2) of the Rome Statute: America's Original Intent. Journal of International Criminal Justice 3 (2):333–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, Beth A. 2000. International Law and State Behavior: Commitment and Compliance in International Monetary Affairs. American Political Science Review 94 (4):819–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, Beth A. 2009. Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, Beth A., and Hopkins, Daniel J.. 2005. The Constraining Power of International Treaties: Theory and Methods. American Political Science Review 99 (4):623–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Venzke, Ingo. 2012. How Interpretation Makes International Law: On Semantic Change and Normative Twists. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voeten, Erik. 2005. The Political Origins of the UN Security Council's Ability to Legitimize the Use of Force. International Organization 59 (3):527–57.Google Scholar
Voeten, Erik. 2011. The Practice of Political Manipulation. In International Practices edited by Adler, Emanuel and Pouliot, Vincent, 255–79. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Putnam supplementary materials

Putnam supplementary materials 1

Download Putnam supplementary materials(File)
File 589 KB
Supplementary material: File

Putnam supplementary materials

Putnam supplementary materials 2

Download Putnam supplementary materials(File)
File 54.5 KB