"International Law and the Far Right" a lecture by Martti Koskenniemi (Fourth T.M.C. Asser Lecture)

Impressions from the Fourth Annual T.M.C. Asser Lecture delivered by Martti Koskenniemi on "International Law and the Far Right: Reflections on Law and Cynicism" in the Peace Palace in The Hague.

In his lecture, Prof. Koskenniemi takes issue with the mainstream interpretation of the far right "backlash" against globalisation and international institutions as originating from people "left behind". He provides an alternative interpretation for the backlash, tying it to cultural anxiety and the loss of white male privilege. Prof. Koskenniemi then connects the backlash to developments in international law, especially in the 1990s. Processes of fragmentation and politicisation have lead to a "hyper-specialisation" of international lawyers. He proposes that international law should sharpen its strategic insights and return to dealing with questions of justice, peace, and equality.

Martti Koskenniemi is Professor of International Law at the University of Helsinki and Director of the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights. He was a member of the Finnish diplomatic service in 1978-1994 and of the International Law Commission (UN) in 2002-2006. He has held visiting professorships in, among other places, New York University, Columbia University, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics, and Universities of Brussels, Melbourne, Paris, Sao Paulo and Utrecht. He is a member of the Institut de droit international and a Fellow of the British Academy. He has a doctorate h.c. from the Universities of Uppsala, Frankfurt and McGill. His main publications include From Apology to Utopia; The Structure of International Legal Argument (1989/2005), The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870-1960 (2001) and The Politics of International Law (2011). He is currently working on a history of international legal thought from the late medieval period to the 19th century.

The Annual T.M.C. Asser Lecture invites internationally renowned scholars to take inspiration from Tobias Asser’s idea of cultivating trust and respect through law and legal institutions, and to examine what it could mean in their area of expertise today.