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The History of a Norm in International Relations
Oxford University Press
January 2008
On Sale: December 31, 2007
272 pages
ISBN: 0199214336
EAN: 9780199214334
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
The main aim of this book is to argue that the use of
private force by states has been restricted by a norm
against mercenary use. The book traces the evolution of this
norm, from mercenaries in medieval Europe through to private
security companies in modern day Iraq, telling a story about
how the mercenaries of yesterday have evolved into those of
today in the process. The norm against mercenaries has two
components. First, mercenaries are considered to be immoral
because they use force outside legitimate, authoritative
control. Second, mercenaries are considered to be morally
problematic because they fight wars for selfish, financial
reasons as opposed to fighting for some kind of larger
conception of the common good. The book examines four
puzzles about mercenary use, and argues that they can only
be explained by understanding the norm against mercenaries.
First, the book argues that moral disapproval of mercenaries
led to the disappearance of independent mercenaries from
medieval Europe. Second, the transition from armies composed
of mercenaries to citizen armies in the nineteenth century
can only be understood with attention to the norm against
mercenaries. Third, it is impossible to understand why
international law regarding mercenaries, created in the
1970s and 1980s, is so ineffective without understanding the
norm. Finally, the disappearance of companies like Executive
Outcomes and Sandline and the development of today's private
security industry cannot be understood without the norm.
This book is a project of the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on
the Changing Character of War.
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