This chapter asks whether the Sustainable Development Goals have advanced planetary ecological integrity, that is, strengthened policies towards the preservation of global commons at various levels of governance. We start with a brief account of the concept of planetary integrity, before engaging in a theoretical debate about the potential role of the Sustainable Development Goals in advancing planetary integrity, drawing on a literature survey. Finally, we assess the transformative potential of the goals for planetary integrity by focusing on governance interventions at international, regional, local and transnational levels. Our research shows that while the Sustainable Development Goals have raised concern about environmental protection, they do not motivate transformative change towards planetary integrity. Specifically, the literature raises doubts about the actual steering effects of the goals owing to their poor additionality with respect to existing environmental agreements, their inherent contradictions, and their weak ambition when it comes to planetary integrity.

This book presents a comparative study of the historical experiences of Britons who entered the international civil service between 1945 and 1970 with those who worked and volunteered in international non-governmental and civil society organizations. International service assumed two forms after the Second World War. One was the international civil service, much of which was concentrated in the United Nations (UN) family of international organizations. The other was international civil society, comprised of older voluntary organizations that expanded their activities after the war, and new transnational civil society organizations created between the 1940s and the 1970s. The book assesses the respective influence of Britons in these sectors on the post-1945 development of international public policy and on Britain’s transition from a great power to one that sought to position itself as a leading contributor to international governance and voluntary activism. It presents a comparative analysis of the personal histories of hundreds of Britons who represented Britain at the UN and worked in the UN Secretariat; served in UN humanitarian, development, and social governance institutions and missions; participated in the world government movement; volunteered in the Friends Postwar International Service; and lobbied for decolonization and anti-racism through the Movement for Colonial Freedom.

This book presents a comparative study of the historical experiences of Britons who entered the international civil service between 1945 and 1970 with those who worked and volunteered in international non-governmental and civil society organizations. International service assumed two forms after the Second World War. One was the international civil service, much of which was concentrated in the United Nations (UN) family of international organizations. The other was international civil society, comprised of older voluntary organizations that expanded their activities after the war, and new transnational civil society organizations created between the 1940s and the 1970s. The book assesses the respective influence of Britons in these sectors on the post-1945 development of international public policy and on Britain’s transition from a great power to one that sought to position itself as a leading contributor to international governance and voluntary activism. It presents a comparative analysis of the personal histories of hundreds of Britons who represented Britain at the UN and worked in the UN Secretariat; served in UN humanitarian, development, and social governance institutions and missions; participated in the world government movement; volunteered in the Friends Postwar International Service; and lobbied for decolonization and anti-racism through the Movement for Colonial Freedom.

Chapter 1 begins by discussing the nineteenth century as the age of internationalism, forms of which developed in various realms. International relations underwent a significant degree of legalisation and a law-based international order emerged along the lines of supposed European ‘civilisational standards’, enshrining clear hierarchies of ‘civilised’ and ‘uncivilised’ states and thereby preparing the further course of European colonialism and imperialism. In the realm of civil society, social and political reform movements began to form cross-border networks and to explore new means of exerting influence in the transnational sphere, making deliberate use of the ‘public sphere’ as a resource to rally support for their causes. Yet at the state level, too, the period following the Congress of Vienna (1814–15) saw a tremendous increase in international cooperation between the European great powers. In intense diplomatic consultation at regular conferences and meetings of ambassadors and in special committees, the ‘Concert of Europe’ tried to find joint solutions to international conflicts, civil wars and humanitarian crises. This form of cooperation and collective crisis management is often regarded as one of the first forms of international governance.

Confronting the successful state Holland with the rogue state Spain, Grotius develops a comparative politics pointing to concordia and justice as conditions for sustainable political order, characterized by its constitution. When it comes to the management of church and religion in the state, from a broadly Erastian position, Grotius reconstructs the (biblical) history of the administration of religion to conclude that it unreservedly is in the care of the supreme authorities, even if it can be delegated. Yet, religious convictions cannot be forced, and religious beliefs differ over the globe. At the same time, the relativity that pervades his ars politica can be seen as contained within a unifying conception of what the demands of politics are.

This brings these findings together and considers what this tells us about the role of archives in international criminal justice and international politics. This reveals a complex picture where the principles and strategies that underpinned knowledge production within the ICTR’s archive shifted over time, from a form of restorative justice to a more strictly retributive model. This also meant a shift from more far-reaching records of violence produced under the witnesses’ influence to a more legalistic record of violence. Over time, the archive, then, less closely reflected the needs and priorities of those affected by the genocide and arguably also produced a more conservative vision of the international community. The chapter also examines the extent to which these dynamics are an inevitable part of international criminal justice,. as a liberal tool of international governance, in part by examining the ICC. This argues that whilst there is little to suggest international criminal justice must necessarily act with such a reductionist view of its function, that these issues continue to underpin current practices of international courts.

This part concludes several of the key patterns in the League’s environmental regime. I use this opportunity to discuss some of the broader implications of this study for international environmental policymaking.

Next to the techno-environmental and legal questions covered in each chapter, the environmental story reveals the complex institutional framework of the League. I claim that the shift to internationalism was not only reflected in the substantive issues that were at stake. The interwar environmental regime was primarily based on a procedural and legal routine that supported the environmental challenges that confronted the League. The League brought something completely different into the table. The environmental law missions that I uncover show how and to which extent the League shifted these discussions and kept them going, thanks to its regular institutional routine. It was the League’s systematic – almost bureaucratic – institutional work that triggered these discussions, squeezing them into different modes of operation. In this way, these issues developed their own dynamic as part of international law.

Moreover, and although the League failed in many of its actions, including the environmental challenges, I will argue that given the layered structure of international environmental law (and its history), the interwar period should not be overlooked: not in terms of comparative legal history, and not in terms of its influence and links to the current issues of the ecological crisis.

One of the most noticeable changes in the governance of higher education has been the introduction of systematic external quality assurance and the establishment of new national agencies with particular responsibilities in this area. In Europe these developments have been accompanied by the establishment of new pan-European meta-organizations in the quality assurance area. These meta-organizations incorporate a wide range of functions, including building and exchanging knowledge and expertise, regulatory responsibilities, and expanding their own influence in higher education governance. This chapter analyses two European meta-organizations in the field of quality assurance — ENQA and EQAR — and discusses their role in influencing the emerging multilevel and multi-actor governance of higher education in Europe.

Chapter 9 revisits the central argument of this book: that we can better understand the migrant and refugee engagement strategies of host states if we account for indifference as a policy option, in addition to liberal or repressive policies. Identifying indifference—and considering the possibility that it is a strategic option utilized by host states, rather than the absence of state capacity—helps elucidate approaches that might otherwise be considered neglect or an absence of engagement. Chapter 9 also considers the generalizability of this study and its potential applicability to other regions such as South America or Asia where states are undergoing a similar transformation from countries of conduit to countries of settlement. Finally, the chapter considers the policy implications of this book. Taking the incentives of MENA states more seriously and finding ways to give them a meaningful and equitable seat at the table while still ensuring that they are abiding by international standards and upholding migrant and refugee rights is undoubtedly a challenging task. Yet only in doing so can we develop a more just and effective migrant and refugee protection system that addresses the well-being of migrants, refugees, and host country nationals at present and in the future.

This chapter looks at how contemporaries understood changes occurring in the structure and practices of the European security regime emerging around 1815, and how we can understand its ordering functions in international society today from a broader historical perspective by applying theoretical notions developed in regime and governance theory. By highlighting not only the innovations but also the deficiencies of the Vienna security regime, this chapter questions its 'model' character. Yet the experiences and practice of the normative order emerging from the Vienna regime contributed to later forms of international governance in the League of Nations, the United Nations and the Security Council.