War, Torture and Terrorism: Rethinking the Rules of International Security

This book seeks to demonstrate how rules not only guide a variety of practices within international politics but also contribute to the chaos and tension on the part of agents in light of the structures they sustain. Four central themes- practice, legitimacy, regulation, and responsibility- reflect different dimensions of a rule governed political order. The volume does not provide a single new set of rules for governing an increasingly chaotic international system. Instead, it provides reflections upon the way in which rules can and cannot deal with practices of violence. While many assume that "obeying the rules" will bring more peaceful outcomes, the chapters in this volume demonstrate that this may occur in some cases, but more often than not the very nature of a rule governed order will create tensions and stresses that require a constant attention to underlying political dynamics.
This wide-ranging volume will be of great interest to students of International Law, International Security and IR theory.

Anthony F. Lang, Jr. is Senior Lecturer at the School of International Relations, University of St Andrews.Amanda Russell Beattie received her PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews in 2008.

1. Rules and International Security: Dilemmas of a New World Order Anthony F. Lang, Jr. Part I: Rules and Practices 2. Rules for Torture? Nicholas Onuf 3. Contextualizing Torture: Rules and Conventions in the Roman Digest Jill Harries 4. Is Torture ever Justified? Torture, Rights and Rules from Northern Ireland to Iraq Caroline Kennedy-Pipe and Andre Mumford Part II: Rules and Legitimacy 5. Cannon, not Canon: The Dynamics of ad bellum Rule Change Janne Haaland Matlary 6. Preventive War 'à l'américaine': In the Fog of Norms Ariel Colonomos Part III: Rules and Regulation 7. Technology Change, Rule Change and the Law of Armed Conflict Michael E. Smith 8. Rules and the Evolution of International Nuclear Order William Walker Part IV: Rules and Responsibility 9. International Rules, Custom, and the Crime of Aggression Larry May 10. Truth Commissions and Rules: Justice and Peace Mario I. Aguilar Part V: Questioning Rules 11. Absolute Ends and Dynamic Rules: Being Political as Human Beings Amanda Russell Beattie 12. Intra Arma, Silent Leges? The Political Community, Supreme Emergency and the Rules of War Nicholas Rengger