Fault Lines of International Legitimacy

“International relations scholars and practitioners have a long-standing concern with the legitimacy of political actions because it influences their occasions, their shape and their efficiency. Particularly since the Independent International Commission on Kosovo described NATO’s bombing of Serbia as inconsistent with the UN Charter and hence formally illegal but nevertheless legitimate, International lawyers have increasingly shared that concern with the knowledge that a wide split between legality and legitimacy, whatever its other consequences, is bound to heighten skepticism about the obligation to comply with international law. Thus the timing of this elegantly conceived and executed volume could hardly be more felicitous. The multiplicity of authors enriches the volume, for they illuminate probably better than any single author could, the various ways in which ‘legitimacy’ is, can, and should be understood. The editors deserve admiration for the depth, range, and coherence of this fine work.” --Tom Farer, Dean, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, Denver University
“Legitimacy is unstable terrain. Fault lines mark the movement of its legal, normative and political tectonic plates: this results in release of pressure, some beneficial adjustment, and periodic shocks. It is this terrain – human rights, military intervention, peacekeeping, and international administration – that is mapped by a distinguished group of analysts. They have given us a very valuable addition to the growing literature on international legitimacy.” --Ian Clark, ESRC Professorial Fellow and E H Carr Professor, Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University