My areas of expertise are European international relations, political cultural, and intellectual history—and especially the history of international law.
My first book, Sovereignty, International Law, and the French Revolution, examines the impact and effect of the French Revolution on international law, specifically tracing the emergence of popular sovereignty as a justification for claims to territory.
My current major research project is a history of the passport. Address: Georgetown University P.O. Box 23689 Doha, Qatar
The advent of the principle of popular sovereignty during the French Revolution inspired an unint... more The advent of the principle of popular sovereignty during the French Revolution inspired an unintended but momentous change in international law. Edward James Kolla explains that between 1789 and 1799, the idea that peoples ought to determine their fates in international affairs, just as they were taking power domestically in France, inspired a series of new and interconnected claims to territory. Drawing on case studies from Avignon, Belgium, the Rhineland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, Kolla traces how French revolutionary diplomats and leaders gradually applied principles derived from new domestic political philosophy and law to the international stage. Instead of obtaining land via dynastic inheritance or conquest in war, the will of the people would now determine the title and status of territory. However, the principle of popular sovereignty also opened up new justifications for aggressive conquest, and this history foreshadowed some of the most controversial questions in international relations today.
Moments of infraction of international law can generate new law. These can also be important exam... more Moments of infraction of international law can generate new law. These can also be important examples of contingency in the history of international law, if the process occurs as an unintended consequence of actors’ aims. The French Revolution was just such an instance. The transmission of sovereignty from the person of the king to the collective populace of France was a central feature of the Revolution. Unplanned by revolutionaries, the principle of popular sovereignty bled into international law and became a new justification for claims to territory—a precept which, by the twentieth century, came to be called national self-determination. This chapter explores how the will of the people became a force in international law, inadvertently from the perspective of revolutionaries, as a result of changing public opinion, claims of jurisprudential and moral legitimacy, and military force.
The advent of the principle of popular sovereignty during the French Revolution inspired an unint... more The advent of the principle of popular sovereignty during the French Revolution inspired an unintended but momentous change in international law. Edward James Kolla explains that between 1789 and 1799, the idea that peoples ought to determine their fates in international affairs, just as they were taking power domestically in France, inspired a series of new and interconnected claims to territory. Drawing on case studies from Avignon, Belgium, the Rhineland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, Kolla traces how French revolutionary diplomats and leaders gradually applied principles derived from new domestic political philosophy and law to the international stage. Instead of obtaining land via dynastic inheritance or conquest in war, the will of the people would now determine the title and status of territory. However, the principle of popular sovereignty also opened up new justifications for aggressive conquest, and this history foreshadowed some of the most controversial questions in international relations today.
Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international, 2016
The Alien Tort Statute (ats) is one of the greatest enigmas of American legal history. Enacted in... more The Alien Tort Statute (ats) is one of the greatest enigmas of American legal history. Enacted in 1789, it was little used until the late 1970s, when foreigners notably began seeking compensation under its terms for human rights abuses committed around the world. Recently, the us Supreme Court seemed to put an end to this practice – but the ats is still of interest to historians. After the American War of Independence, Great Britain and the United States maintained a robust trade and close economic relationship. Many Americans saw the perpetuation of these ties as essential to the new republic’s prosperity. The ats helped frame the United States’ mercantile associations in terms of customary maritime and trade law; in particular, evidence suggests it aimed to provide a mechanism in us courts for the remedy of commercial disputes, especially with Americans’ former imperial overlord, in accordance with the contemporary law of nations.
National self-determination was one of the most important and controversial concepts in twentieth... more National self-determination was one of the most important and controversial concepts in twentieth century international relations and law. The principle has had a remarkable history, from Woodrow Wilson's assertion that the peoples of Eastern Europe ought to form their own national states in place of ruined multiethnic and multilinguistic empires after the First World War; to decolonization after the Second World War, when populations worldwide invoked a right to throw off the yoke of imperialism; to the breakup of and war in the former Yugoslavia at century's end in precisely the same area in which a nation's self-determination was first intended to be a panacea for the region's diverse peoples. And yet, national self-determination, if not always called that, has a much longer lineage. Some note its earliest appearance in 1581, when the Dutch claimed independence from Hapsburg Spain. However, it was not until the French Revolution when, as Alfred Cobban remarks, “th...
Pierre Serna ends this volume with the provocative claim that “[r]evolution never repeats itself,... more Pierre Serna ends this volume with the provocative claim that “[r]evolution never repeats itself, because it never ends” (p. 182). Recently, many parts of the world have been gripped (again? as always? ) by popular revolt and revolution. With their reach extending from the Middle East, across North Africa, to South America, and beyond, it is indeed timely to investigate perhaps the prototypical revolution, the French one of 1789, in a global perspective.
... 1 of Napoléon et Alexandre Ier: L'alliance russe sous le pre-mier empire, 5th ed., 3 vol... more ... 1 of Napoléon et Alexandre Ier: L'alliance russe sous le pre-mier empire, 5th ed., 3 vols ... from now on the great maxim of the republic must be never to abandon corfu, Zante, etc ... GeneralJean-Baptiste Kléber, a much more practical man than Napoléon and not as prone to oriental ...
Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international , 2016
The Alien Tort Statute (ATS) is one of the greatest enigmas of American legal history. Enacted in... more The Alien Tort Statute (ATS) is one of the greatest enigmas of American legal history. Enacted in 1789, it was little used until the late 1970s, when foreigners notably began seeking compensation under its terms for human rights abuses committed around the world. Recently, the US Supreme Court seemed to put an end to this practice – but the ATS is still of interest to historians. After the American War of Independence, Great Britain and the United States maintained a robust trade and close economic relationship. Many Americans saw the perpetuation of these ties as essential to the new republic's prosperity. The ATS helped frame the United States' mercantile associations in terms of customary maritime and trade law; in particular, evidence suggests it aimed to provide a mechanism in US courts for the remedy of commercial disputes, especially with Americans' former imperial overlord, in accordance with the contemporary law of nations. Keywords Alien Tort Statute (ATS) – maritime law − American War of Independence – trade – commercial law – early modern law of nations – tort
National self-determination was one of the most important and controversial concepts in twentieth... more National self-determination was one of the most important and controversial concepts in twentieth century international relations and law. The principle has had a remarkable history, from Woodrow Wilson's assertion that the peoples of Eastern Europe ought to form their own national states in place of ruined multiethnic and multilinguistic empires after the First World War; to decolonization after the Second World War, when populations worldwide invoked a right to throw off the yoke of imperialism; to the breakup of and war in the former Yugoslavia at century's end in precisely the same area in which a nation's self-determination was first intended to be a panacea for the region's diverse peoples. And yet, national self-determination, if not always called that, has a much longer lineage. Some note its earliest appearance in 1581, when the Dutch claimed independence from Hapsburg Spain. However, it was not until the French Revolution when, as Alfred Cobban remarks, “the nation state ceased to be a simple historical fact and became the subject of a theory,” that a people's right to determine its destiny in international as in domestic affairs was first articulated and applied. The clearest instance of this articulation and application during the Revolution was the union of Avignon and France.
This article proposes a revision to the historiographical consensus that Napoleon's foreign polic... more This article proposes a revision to the historiographical consensus that Napoleon's foreign policy was a boorish and uncompromising, even "criminal," enterprise. the east lured Napoleon all his life, not least because of the mania for the East and the heroes of classical antiquity during the enlightenment and because of the connected belief that victory in the east was the most glorious of military achievements. Strangely, however, after his failed campaign in Egypt in 1798 - 99 Napoleon never mounted any of the grand projects he continued to envisage for the East, most notably his various schemes to attack British India. Whereas historians tend, erroneously, to dismiss these ventures as unfeasible dreams, a close examination of Napoleon's diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and Russia reveals a self-restraint and a more conventional approach to his relations with these states, both attitudes of which Napoleon was supposedly incapable.
The advent of the principle of popular sovereignty during the French Revolution inspired an unint... more The advent of the principle of popular sovereignty during the French Revolution inspired an unintended but momentous change in international law. Edward James Kolla explains that between 1789 and 1799, the idea that peoples ought to determine their fates in international affairs, just as they were taking power domestically in France, inspired a series of new and interconnected claims to territory. Drawing on case studies from Avignon, Belgium, the Rhineland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, Kolla traces how French revolutionary diplomats and leaders gradually applied principles derived from new domestic political philosophy and law to the international stage. Instead of obtaining land via dynastic inheritance or conquest in war, the will of the people would now determine the title and status of territory. However, the principle of popular sovereignty also opened up new justifications for aggressive conquest, and this history foreshadowed some of the most controversial questions in international relations today.
Moments of infraction of international law can generate new law. These can also be important exam... more Moments of infraction of international law can generate new law. These can also be important examples of contingency in the history of international law, if the process occurs as an unintended consequence of actors’ aims. The French Revolution was just such an instance. The transmission of sovereignty from the person of the king to the collective populace of France was a central feature of the Revolution. Unplanned by revolutionaries, the principle of popular sovereignty bled into international law and became a new justification for claims to territory—a precept which, by the twentieth century, came to be called national self-determination. This chapter explores how the will of the people became a force in international law, inadvertently from the perspective of revolutionaries, as a result of changing public opinion, claims of jurisprudential and moral legitimacy, and military force.
The advent of the principle of popular sovereignty during the French Revolution inspired an unint... more The advent of the principle of popular sovereignty during the French Revolution inspired an unintended but momentous change in international law. Edward James Kolla explains that between 1789 and 1799, the idea that peoples ought to determine their fates in international affairs, just as they were taking power domestically in France, inspired a series of new and interconnected claims to territory. Drawing on case studies from Avignon, Belgium, the Rhineland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, Kolla traces how French revolutionary diplomats and leaders gradually applied principles derived from new domestic political philosophy and law to the international stage. Instead of obtaining land via dynastic inheritance or conquest in war, the will of the people would now determine the title and status of territory. However, the principle of popular sovereignty also opened up new justifications for aggressive conquest, and this history foreshadowed some of the most controversial questions in international relations today.
Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international, 2016
The Alien Tort Statute (ats) is one of the greatest enigmas of American legal history. Enacted in... more The Alien Tort Statute (ats) is one of the greatest enigmas of American legal history. Enacted in 1789, it was little used until the late 1970s, when foreigners notably began seeking compensation under its terms for human rights abuses committed around the world. Recently, the us Supreme Court seemed to put an end to this practice – but the ats is still of interest to historians. After the American War of Independence, Great Britain and the United States maintained a robust trade and close economic relationship. Many Americans saw the perpetuation of these ties as essential to the new republic’s prosperity. The ats helped frame the United States’ mercantile associations in terms of customary maritime and trade law; in particular, evidence suggests it aimed to provide a mechanism in us courts for the remedy of commercial disputes, especially with Americans’ former imperial overlord, in accordance with the contemporary law of nations.
National self-determination was one of the most important and controversial concepts in twentieth... more National self-determination was one of the most important and controversial concepts in twentieth century international relations and law. The principle has had a remarkable history, from Woodrow Wilson's assertion that the peoples of Eastern Europe ought to form their own national states in place of ruined multiethnic and multilinguistic empires after the First World War; to decolonization after the Second World War, when populations worldwide invoked a right to throw off the yoke of imperialism; to the breakup of and war in the former Yugoslavia at century's end in precisely the same area in which a nation's self-determination was first intended to be a panacea for the region's diverse peoples. And yet, national self-determination, if not always called that, has a much longer lineage. Some note its earliest appearance in 1581, when the Dutch claimed independence from Hapsburg Spain. However, it was not until the French Revolution when, as Alfred Cobban remarks, “th...
Pierre Serna ends this volume with the provocative claim that “[r]evolution never repeats itself,... more Pierre Serna ends this volume with the provocative claim that “[r]evolution never repeats itself, because it never ends” (p. 182). Recently, many parts of the world have been gripped (again? as always? ) by popular revolt and revolution. With their reach extending from the Middle East, across North Africa, to South America, and beyond, it is indeed timely to investigate perhaps the prototypical revolution, the French one of 1789, in a global perspective.
... 1 of Napoléon et Alexandre Ier: L'alliance russe sous le pre-mier empire, 5th ed., 3 vol... more ... 1 of Napoléon et Alexandre Ier: L'alliance russe sous le pre-mier empire, 5th ed., 3 vols ... from now on the great maxim of the republic must be never to abandon corfu, Zante, etc ... GeneralJean-Baptiste Kléber, a much more practical man than Napoléon and not as prone to oriental ...
Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international , 2016
The Alien Tort Statute (ATS) is one of the greatest enigmas of American legal history. Enacted in... more The Alien Tort Statute (ATS) is one of the greatest enigmas of American legal history. Enacted in 1789, it was little used until the late 1970s, when foreigners notably began seeking compensation under its terms for human rights abuses committed around the world. Recently, the US Supreme Court seemed to put an end to this practice – but the ATS is still of interest to historians. After the American War of Independence, Great Britain and the United States maintained a robust trade and close economic relationship. Many Americans saw the perpetuation of these ties as essential to the new republic's prosperity. The ATS helped frame the United States' mercantile associations in terms of customary maritime and trade law; in particular, evidence suggests it aimed to provide a mechanism in US courts for the remedy of commercial disputes, especially with Americans' former imperial overlord, in accordance with the contemporary law of nations. Keywords Alien Tort Statute (ATS) – maritime law − American War of Independence – trade – commercial law – early modern law of nations – tort
National self-determination was one of the most important and controversial concepts in twentieth... more National self-determination was one of the most important and controversial concepts in twentieth century international relations and law. The principle has had a remarkable history, from Woodrow Wilson's assertion that the peoples of Eastern Europe ought to form their own national states in place of ruined multiethnic and multilinguistic empires after the First World War; to decolonization after the Second World War, when populations worldwide invoked a right to throw off the yoke of imperialism; to the breakup of and war in the former Yugoslavia at century's end in precisely the same area in which a nation's self-determination was first intended to be a panacea for the region's diverse peoples. And yet, national self-determination, if not always called that, has a much longer lineage. Some note its earliest appearance in 1581, when the Dutch claimed independence from Hapsburg Spain. However, it was not until the French Revolution when, as Alfred Cobban remarks, “the nation state ceased to be a simple historical fact and became the subject of a theory,” that a people's right to determine its destiny in international as in domestic affairs was first articulated and applied. The clearest instance of this articulation and application during the Revolution was the union of Avignon and France.
This article proposes a revision to the historiographical consensus that Napoleon's foreign polic... more This article proposes a revision to the historiographical consensus that Napoleon's foreign policy was a boorish and uncompromising, even "criminal," enterprise. the east lured Napoleon all his life, not least because of the mania for the East and the heroes of classical antiquity during the enlightenment and because of the connected belief that victory in the east was the most glorious of military achievements. Strangely, however, after his failed campaign in Egypt in 1798 - 99 Napoleon never mounted any of the grand projects he continued to envisage for the East, most notably his various schemes to attack British India. Whereas historians tend, erroneously, to dismiss these ventures as unfeasible dreams, a close examination of Napoleon's diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and Russia reveals a self-restraint and a more conventional approach to his relations with these states, both attitudes of which Napoleon was supposedly incapable.
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