Order within Anarchy
The Laws of War as an International Institution

Order within Anarchy examines treaty law, focusing on international law, laws of war and how effective such limitations truly are.

James D. Morrow (Author)

9781107048966, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 14 July 2014

368 pages, 25 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm, 0.64 kg

'Morrow brings much needed rigor to the difficult topic of the laws of war. For all the time and effort that has been spent attempting to reduce the horrors of war, we understand very little about why, how, and when legal rules move us toward that goal. Order within Anarchy is just what the field needs. Its empirical results are built on a rock-solid theoretical foundation which not only offers answers the critical questions about the laws of war, but delivers the tools needed for future scholars to continue the inquiry. The book is a must-read for both political scientists and legal scholars interested in the laws of war.' Andrew Guzman, Jackson H. Ralston Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley Law School

Order within Anarchy focuses on how the laws of war create strategic expectations about how states and their soldiers will act during war, which can help produce restraint. The success of the laws of war depends on three related factors: compliance between warring states and between soldiers on the battlefield, and control of soldiers by their militaries. A statistical study of compliance of the laws of war during the twentieth century shows that joint ratification strengthens both compliance and reciprocity, compliance varies across issues with the scope for individual violations, and violations occur early in war. Close study of the treatment of prisoners of war during World Wars I and II demonstrates the difficulties posed by states' varied willingness to limit violence, a lack of clarity about what restraint means, and the practical problems of restraint on the battlefield.

1. Introduction
2. Common conjectures, norms, and identities
3. The laws of war in their strategic context
4. Modeling minutia
5. Patterns of compliance with the laws of war during the twentieth century
6. Statistical gore
7. Spoilt darlings? Treatment of prisoners of war during the World Wars
8. Assessing variation across issues: aerial bombing, chemical weapons, treatment of civilians, and conduct on the high seas
9. Dynamics of common conjectures: the rational evolution of norms
10. Conclusion: current issues and policy insights.

Subject Areas: Public international law [LBB], International relations [JPS], Politics & government [JP], Sociology [JHB]