OUVRAGE : A. Green, Statehood as Political Community: International Law and the Emergence of New States

Alex GREEN

Alex Green argues that States arise under contemporary international law only when two abstract conditions are fulfilled. First, emerging States must constitute 'genuine political communities': collectives within which particular kinds of ethically valuable behaviour are possible. Second, such communities must emerge in a manner consistent with the ethical importance of individual political action. This uniquely 'Grotian' theory of State creation provides a clear legal framework comprising four factual 'antecedents' and five procedural principles, rendering the law of statehood both coherent and normatively attractive.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: reconstructing the law of State creation

Part I. Political Community

1. Political ethics and community membership
2. Political action and valuable institutions
3. The antecedents of statehood
4. Five procedural principles

Part II. Stability, Legitimacy, and Democracy

5. The stability thesis
6. The legitimacy thesis
7. Democratic legitimacy

Conclusion: The nature and resilience of statehood

Alex GREEN, Statehood as Political Community: International Law and the Emergence of New States, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2024 (278 pages)