Coalitions of the Willing and International Law
The Interplay between Formality and Informality

An analysis of the role of the interplay between formality and informality in shaping the current state of international law.

Alejandro Rodiles (Author)

9781108463263, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 February 2020

315 pages
23 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.45 kg

'It has by now become clear that the world's two major powers - a declining hegemon as well as an emerging one - are poised to shun multilateral international organizations and instead are experimenting with various types of 'coalitions of the willing'. Rodiles offers a comprehensive theoretical and historical analysis of this strategy and demonstrates its benefits for those powers who lead them, such as the US and China, as well as its costs for all the rest and for the ideals of inclusive multilateralism and the rule of law. His sensitive and convincing account is crucial for understanding the contemporary trajectories of international law and politics.' Eyal Benvenisti, University of Cambridge

Global action and regulation is increasingly the result of the interplay between formality and informality. From the management of State conduct in international security to the coordination of national policies in climate change, international organizations work ever closer with coalitions of the willing. This book carefully describes this dynamic game, showing that it consists of transformative orchestration strategies and quasi-formalization processes. On the institutional plane, coalitions of the willing turn into 'durable efforts', while international organizations perform as 'platforms' within broader regime complexes. On the normative level, informal standards are framed in legal language and bestowed with the force of law, while legal norms are attached to multilayered schemes of implementation, characterized by pragmatic correspondences, persuasion tactics, and conceptual framing. Understanding how this interplay alters the notion of 'international legality' is crucial for the necessary recalibrations of the political ideals that will inform the rule of law in global governance.

1. Introduction
2. The conceptual metaphor 'coalition of the willing'
3. Testing the frame: the genealogy of a catchphrase
4. Global security governance by posse: the Proliferation Security Initiative & Co.
5. Coalitions of the willing in context: the interplay between formality and informality
6. Coalitions of the willing and the role of law in the de-formalized global complex
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], Public international law [LBB], International law [LB], Law [L], International relations [JPS]