Statehood as Political Community
International Law and the Emergence of New States

A novel account of state creation in international law, applying normative philosophy and political theory as well as legal practice.

Alex Green (Author)

9781009176323, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 February 2024

278 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.54 kg

'Alex Green sets himself the task of bringing greater clarity to the vexed question of the criteria for the emergence of new states under international law … It is not possible in a brief review to do justice to the nuance and theoretical depth of this account of the requirements for new statehood.' Cheryl Saunders, Constitutional Studies

Alex Green argues that states arise under contemporary international law only when two abstract conditions are fulfilled. First, emerging states must constitute 'genuine political communities': collectives within which particular kinds of ethically valuable behaviour are possible. Second, such communities must emerge in a manner consistent with the ethical importance of individual political action. This uniquely 'Grotian' theory of state creation provides a clear legal framework comprising four factual 'antecedents' and five procedural principles, rendering the law of statehood both coherent and normatively attractive.

Introduction: reconstructing the law of state creation
Part I. Political Community: 1. Political ethics and community membership
2. Political action and valuable institutions
3. The antecedents of statehood
4. Five procedural principles
Part II. Stability, Legitimacy, and Democracy: 5. The stability thesis
6. The legitimacy thesis
7. Democratic legitimacy
Conclusion: The nature and resilience of statehood.

Subject Areas: Public international law [LBB]