The Normative and the Political: Kelsen, Schmitt, Morgenthau, and the Future International Order

In recent years, much has been written about the interaction between international law and the political. Yet, the field of International Relations has paid limited attention to how centering the interpretation of the ’international’ on each of these favors radically different orders.

With this book, Leon Sosnowski effectively demonstrates the plausibility of a foreign policy recognizing the primacy of International Law. He does so by synthesizing Hans Kelsen’s legal cosmopolitanism and elements of Hans J. Morgenthau’s classical realism into a new theoretical framework - Normative Effectivism. He argues that it is an international political theory to challenge the current sovereigntist wave, contributing to a sustainable international order. He illustrates his arguments with a novel reading of Kelsen and Morgenthau’s opposition to Carl Schmitt’s worldview. His analysis shows that the post-WWII international system is at a critical crossroads, evidenced by Russia’s post-Cold War foreign policy and the international response.

Securing an important place in the subfield of International Political Theory, The Normative and The Political will be equally useful to scholars in International Relations, Ethics, and International Law.

Leon Sosnowski is an experienced international lawyer, heading a global sovereign fund’s legal team. He has taught international relations theory and international law at King’s College London’s War Studies Department, where he completed his PhD. He also has a Masters in Legal & Political Theory from University College London (UCL). Leon’s research brings together international relations, law, and political theory to explore questions of political authority and its breakdown.