The Limits of International Law Fifteen Years Later

Posner, Eric A.; Goldsmith, Jack Landman

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3803696

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The Limits of International Law Fifteen Years Later

Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 21-12

U of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper No. 768

13 Pages Posted: 15 Mar 2021 Last revised: 2 Dec 2024

See all articles by Eric A. Posner

Jack Landman Goldsmith

Harvard Law School

Date Written: March 12, 2021

Abstract

The Limits of International Law received a great deal of criticism when it was published in 2005 but it has aged well. The skeptical, social-scientific methodology that it recommended has become a normal mode of international law scholarship. And the dominant idealistic view of international law that the book criticized is today in shambles, unable to explain the turmoil in international politics. This essay reflects on the book’s reception and corrects common misperceptions of its arguments.

Keywords: international law

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Posner, Eric A. and Goldsmith, Jack Landman, The Limits of International Law Fifteen Years Later (March 12, 2021). Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 21-12, U of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper No. 768, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3803696 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3803696