Great Powers and Outlaw States

ThepresenceofGreatPowersandoutlawstatesisacentralbutunder-exploredfeatureofinternationalsociety.Inthisbook,GerrySimpsondescribesthewaysinwhichaninternationallegalorderbasedon'sovereignequality'hasaccommodatedtheGreatPowersandregulatedoutlawstatessincethebeginningofthenineteenth-century.Indoingso,theauthoroffersafreshunderstandingofsovereigntywhichhetermsjuridicalsovereigntytoshowhowinternationallawhasmanagedtheinterplayofthreelanguages:thelanguagesofGreatPowerprerogative,thelanguageofoutlawry(oranti-pluralism)andthelanguageofsovereignequality.Theco-existenceandinteractionofthesethreelanguagesistracedthroughanumberofmomentsofinstitutionaltransformationintheglobalorderfromtheCongressofViennatothe'waronterrorism'.