Interstate Arbitration. Forms of conflict resolution in international law (1860 to 1930)

• Applicant: Dr. Jakob Zollmann
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History ; Principles of Law and Jurisprudence
• Term: from 2014 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 247185984

The project analyses the practice of interstate arbitration in public international law as well as the peace movement and its aspirations for pacification by juridification in the context of 19th and early 20th century. The methodology to be employed is interdisciplinary: historical-hermeneutical questions are linked with juridical-normative questions. In addition, assumptions by political scientists with regard to conflict resolution in international relations will be scrutinised. Two major points are at issue: What are the historical-political conditions under which political actors choose to resort to conflict resolution by arbitration tribunals instead of bilateral negotiations or military force? What are the causes of the increased importance of interstate arbitration? Three hypotheses will be verified by this project: 1. Within the investigated period, a development towards a more juridified non-military conflict resolution between states occurred. Considering colonialism and World War I, it is evident that this development was not linear. This juridification can be associated with the decline in influence of the argument about state sovereignty. Following this decline, the core normative premises on which the principles of interstate arbitration since 1945 rest, were created. 2. Due to the focus on domestic legal standards, there was a radical professionalisation in terms of personnel and institutions of arbitration tribunals within the period investigated. This professionalisation also applies to the procedural modalities of adjudication as well as the reasoning behind the awards. This assumption of a legal analogy between domestic and international standards needs to be put to the test in light of the discussion on professionalisation among social scientists and social historians. 3. The impact of the public sphere - and especially of the peace movement - on the above-mentioned juridification and professionalisation of interstate arbitration was minimal, although the self-perceptions of those involved did not view it as such. The three hypotheses are to be verified on the basis of historical attempts to protect and restore peace in the international order by drawing on the ever more sophisticated procedures of public international law. Arbitration awards as well as the procedures and the domestic controversies on the decision to arbitrate a conflict with another state are examples of these attempts. Taking into account the advancing democratic participation, the domestic dimension of international disputes cannot be separated from state action in the international field. Thus, this research will treat a central problem of international relations and conflict resolution: the conditions of possibility for non-military conflict resolutions. The project thus contributes towards a clearer understanding and a more precise formulation of the prerequisites and limitations of contemporary global conflict resolution by law.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants