Can Might Make Rights?

Jane Stromseth is Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center where she teaches in the fields of international law and constitutional law. She has written widely on international law governing the use of force, humanitarian intervention, accountability for human rights atrocities, and constitutional war powers. She is editor and contributor to Accountability for Atrocities: National and International Responses (2003), contributor to Humanitarian Intervention: Ethical, Legal, and Political Dilemmas (Cambridge University Press, 2003), contributor to Enforcing Restraint: Collective Intervention in Internal Conflicts (1993), contributor to The US Constitution and the Power to Go to War (1994), and author of The Origins of Flexible Response: NATO's Debate over Strategy in the 1960s (1988). She has published in law journals including the American Journal of International Law, the Yale Law Journal, and the Georgetown Law Journal, and she has appeared on CNN, NBC, C-SPAN, and National Public Radio. She has served in government as a Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council (1999¿2000), and as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the US Department of State (1989¿90). A Rhodes Scholar, Stromseth holds a doctorate in International Relations from Oxford University, a law degree from Yale Law School, and a BA degree from Swarthmore College. She serves on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of International Law.

This book looks at the difficulty in creating 'the rule of law' in post-conflict societies.

1. The new imperialism?; 2. Interventions and international law: the impact of legality and legitimacy on building the rule of law; 3. The elusive rule of law; 4. Blueprints for post-conflict governance and their impact on the rule of law; 5. Security as sine qua non; 6. The challenge of long-term justice reform; 7. Moving forward by looking backward? Accountability for atrocities and strengthening the rule of law; 8. Creating rule of law cultures; 9. Strengthening efforts to lay the groundwork for the rule of law: institutions and resources; 10. Conclusion.