International Law, Armed Conflict, and the Construction of Otherness: A Critical Reading of Dr. Seuss's The Butter Battle Book and a Renewed Call for Global Citizenship

36 Pages Posted: 23 Apr 2014

See all articles by John Hursh

John Hursh

Stockton Center for International Law

Date Written: April 22, 2014

Abstract

Theodor Seuss Geisel, more popularly known as Dr. Seuss, published The Butter Battle Book on March 2, 1984 in response to U.S. President Ronald Reagan's escalation of the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, a policy that he characterized as evincing "deadly stupidity." While certainly a powerful critique of nuclear arms proliferation, The Butter Battle Book is perhaps even more valuable for its description of how societies progress toward armed conflict. This article examines that process through an international legal framework, questioning when — and even whether — international law generally, or international humanitarian law specifically, could intervene as two states march toward self-annihilation. This article argues that current international law fails to prevent states from reaching such military standoffs. To address this failing, it calls for a progressive international law concerned foremost with human dignity and global citizenship, and less so with strong state sovereignty.

While The Butter Battle Book illustrates the failure of international law to contain military arms escalation between states, it also illustrates a much more fundamental point regarding human relations: the danger of reducing difference to otherness. Accordingly, The Butter Battle Book is best understood not as a cautionary tale regarding the escalation of military arms, but as a breakdown of civil society. Indeed, what is most striking about the conflict between the Yooks and the Zooks is not the elegant logic of arms escalation that results in two societies ready to destroy one another, but how the simple refusal to treat a different culture with dignity and respect makes this logic possible.

This article contains five parts. Part I offers a brief introduction. Part II provides a concise history of the Yook-Zook conflict, examining the conflict’s root cause, its escalation, and its unresolved conclusion. Part III discusses international law in relation to the Yook-Zook conflict. Focusing on the U.N. Charter and international humanitarian law, this Part addresses whether an armed conflict exists, the crime of aggression, and the legality of nuclear weapons. Part IV discusses the construction of otherness. This Part examines the process of constructing the other in relation to international law. In addition, this Part asks how a more progressive international law could address the problem of otherness by looking to the Global Peoples Assembly proposed by Richard Falk and Andrew Strauss and the jurisprudential approach of former International Court of Justice Judge Christopher Weeramantry as possible solutions. Part V concludes.

Keywords: International humanitarian law, the Other, global citizenship, Dr. Seuss

JEL Classification: K33, N40

Suggested Citation

Hursh, John, International Law, Armed Conflict, and the Construction of Otherness: A Critical Reading of Dr. Seuss's The Butter Battle Book and a Renewed Call for Global Citizenship (April 22, 2014). New York Law School Law Review, Vol. 58, No. 3, 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2427924

John Hursh (Contact Author)

Stockton Center for International Law ( email )

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Newport, RI 02841
United States
401-841-3527 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.usnwc.edu/Departments---Colleges/International-Law.aspx

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