The Historical Foundations of World Order

By illuminating the personalities and identifying the controversies behind the great advancements in international legal thought and weaving this into the context of more conventionally known history, this book presents an understanding of how peoples and nations have sought regularity, justice and order across the ages.

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In The Historical Foundations of World Order: the Tower and the Arena, Douglas M. Johnston has drawn on a 45 year career as one of the world’s most prolific academics in the development of international law and public policy and 5 years of exhaustive research to produce a comprehensive and highly nuanced examination of the historical precursors, intellectual developments, and philosophical frameworks that have guided the progress of world order through recorded history and across the globe, from pre-classical antiquity to the present day. By illuminating the personalities and identifying the controversies behind the great advancements in international legal thought and weaving this into the context of more conventionally known history, Johnston presents a unique understanding of how peoples and nations have sought regularity, justice and order across the ages. This book will appeal to a wide spectrum of readers, from lawyers interested in the historical background of familiar concepts, to curriculum developers for law schools and history faculties, to general interest readers wanting a wider perspective on the history of civilization.

Winner 2009 ASIL Certificate of Merit for a Preeminent Contribution to Creative Scholarship