1 Co-ordinated Arts Program & Department of History, University of British Columbia Hist 104 Topics in World History, Section 227 Winter 2015 Intervention and the Emergence of International Law Instructor: Professor Timothy Brook tim.brook@ubc.ca Office: Buchanan Tower 1117 office hours: Wed 11-12, Thurs 9-10 Tutorial assistants: Sarah Basham, Jonathan Henshaw The past five centuries have been marked by the rise of the modern state and with it, inter-state conflict. The rules of conduct have changed as the conditions and costs of conflict have changed. Wars now occur over distance as often as they do across a shared border, and the casual-ties are now overwhelmingly civilian. Public organizations have responded by formulating a wide range of instruments treaties, conventions, laws, judgments that have produced inter-national law. But if international law exists, it is not obvious what it is or does, for states still go to war, civilians die, and universal principles are regularly invoked to justify the mess. This course presents a historical understanding of where international law comes from and what it is capable of. Rather than survey the entire history of the formation of international law, we take an episodic approach, examining important moments and documents from which to think about how the international order has created law. The course consists of 4 units. We begin in 1493 with the Pope s attempt to prevent global war between Portugal and Spain, followed by attempts to formulate a law of the sea in the 17th century. We then consider differences that emerged between Europe and Asia in managing interstate relations. Midway through the course we move forward to the 20th century to consider the creation of war crimes after the Second World War. We finish with the development of postwar conventions and the doctrine known as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). Readings The reading load for this course is not heavy, but the texts demand close attention. Read slowly and intensively rather than extensively--and do it before you come to class. There is no textbook for this course. The documents and writings we study are available on the web or the course website: https://www.history.ubc.ca/course/history-104-227-topics-world-history.
2 Some of the books from which the readings have been taken are on reserve in Koerner Library: n Bartholomé de las Casas, In Defense of the Indians, trans. Stafford Poole (1992) n Olive Dickason and L.C. Green, The Law of Nations and the New World (1989) n Timothy Brook, Documents on the Rape of Nanking (University of Michigan Press, 1999) n Nick Cullather, Secret History (Stanford University Press, 2006) n Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan (Government of Canada, 2008) A limited number of copies of Brook and Cullather are available in the Bookstore.. Assignments and Grading In-class short essay (Tuesday September 29) 5% Mid-term exam (Thursday October 15) 20% Essay (due Monday November 16) 20% Write a commentary on any aspect of Resolution 36/103 of the UN General Assembly (1981) in the light of what you have learned in the course. Do not tackle the entire document. Identify one section and ask what the UN General Assembly was arguing for and against, what principles it called upon, and what results it sought. 1500 words. Late penalty: 0. Final exam (December exam period) 35% The exam is in 3 parts: (1) short identifications of people, events, and treaties discussed in the course; (2) three essay questions, of which you answer two; and (3) one mandatory essay question: Was the doctrine of R2P a breakthrough in the development of international law, or a reversal? Justify your view by drawing on at least three examples from the course. Tutorial attendance and participation 20% Tutorials are for talking about the readings, raising questions, debating issues, and discussing assignments. Your grade depends on coming prepared: A: outstanding I did all the readings, attended every session, raised and discussed relevant issues, and responded thoughtfully to others B: Good I did most of the readings, came to most sessions, regularly took part C: Satisfactory I did some of the readings but rarely spoke or interacted D: Poor I sometimes came and sometimes listened, but didn t participate F: Fail I didn t even manage that much All written work must be your own. Material taken from other sources must be properly cited. Failure to acknowledge your sources constitutes plagiarism, which has serious consequences ranging up to suspension from the University. On citation and plagiarism, consult the History Department Writing Centre: http://www.history.ubc.ca/content/common-questions-about-citations. Details on University policies on misconduct are available at: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,960 Social contract Learning is an interactive process, and the lecture hall and classrooms are the social media for during the time you devote to this course, which you should give your undivided attention. We'll talk about how we work together in the first meeting, when we draw up a social contract governing our time together.
3 Course introduction Week 1 Thursday Sept 10: Looking for international law Unit 1 Europeans encounter the world Tuesday Sept 15 - Columbus returns Week 2 n Alexander VI, Inter caetera (1493) Thursday Sept 17 - The Treaty of Tordesillas n Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), excerpts Tutorials meet for the first time this week. Tuesday Sept 22 - The Spanish conquest of Mexico Week 3 n Bartholomé de las Casas, In Defense of the Indians pp. 17-30: preface of 1552 n Bartholomé de las Casas, Thirty Propositions, in Early Modern Spain: A Documentary History, ed. Jon Cowans (2003), pp. 64-68 Thursday Sept 24 - The debate at Valladolid, 1550 n Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, Just War in the Indies (1547), in Cowans, pp. 58-63 n Bartholomé de las Casas, Summary of Sepúlveda s Position, in Las Casas, In Defense of the Indians, pp. 11-16 n Olive Dickason, Is All Mankind One? (also available online @ UBC Library in the course reserves) Tutorial debate: Come prepared to defend Las Casas or Sepúlveda (you won t get to choose which position you have to defend). Tuesday Sept 29 Joint lecture: What is law and society? Week 4 n Grotius, Freedom of the Seas (1609), pp. 12-28, 35-36, 45-46, 51-53, 7-11 Thursday Oct 1 Opening and closing the sea n John Selden, Of the Dominion or Ownership of the Sea (1652), excerpts n United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), articles 1-9, 17-21 * 5-minute in-class essay Tutorial debate: This time you are the lawyer for either Grotius or Selden: are the seas open or closed, or should they be? Unit 2 Contrasting models of interstate relations Tuesday Oct 6 - The Peace of Westphalia, 1648 Week 5 n Peace Treaty between the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of France, excerpts Thursday Oct 8 - The tribute system n Anthony Reid, Negotiating Asymmetry, in Negotiating Asymmetry: China s Place in Asia, ed. Anthony Reid and Zheng Yangwen (Singapore, 2009), pp. 1-25 Tutorial discussion: Does it matter that the articles of the Peace of Westphalia differ from the rules of the tribute system?
4 Tuesday Oct 13 - Case study 1: Portuguese intervene in China, 1523 Week 6 n Brook, Trade and Conflict in the South China Sea: Portugal and China, 1514-23, in A Global History of Trade and Conflict since 1500 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), ed. Lucia Coppolaro and Francine McKenzie, 20-37. Thursday Oct 15 - * Mid-term exam No tutorials this week Tuesday Oct 20 - Case study 2: Manchus intervene in Tibet, 1720 Week 7 n Timothy Brook, Tibet and the Chinese World-Empire, in Empires and Autonomy, ed. Stephen Streeter et al. (UBC Press, 2009), 24-40 Thursday Oct 22 - Consequences of the Manchu occupation n Seventeen Point Plan for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet (1951) Tutorial question: Is the tribute system a reasonable alternative to the Westphalian system? Unit 3 World War II and the creation of international law Tuesday Oct 27 - Japanese intervene in China, 1937 Week 8 n Brook, Documents on the Rape of Nanking: Introduction (pp. 1-23) Thursday Oct 29 - Japan s war conduct Guest speaker: Jonathan Henshaw n Brook, Documents on the Rape of Nanking: Hsu Shu-hsi, Documents of the Nanking Safety Zone, pp. 1-18; The Family Letters of Dr. Robert Wilson, pp. 207-27 Tutorial question: What are the appropriate restrictions for war? Can they be guaranteed? Tuesday Nov 3 - The invention of war crimes Week 9 n The Lieber Code (1863), excerpts n Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) n Charter of the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg), excerpts Thursday Nov 5 - The Tokyo trial n International Military Tribunal for the Far East: Indictment n Brook, Documents on the Rape of Nanking: IMTFE Judgment, pp. 257-97 Tutorial debate: Was justice done at the Tokyo trial? Unit 4 Between non-intervention and intervention Tuesday Nov 10 - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 Week 10 n The Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ Thursday Nov 12 - US intervention in Guatemala 1954, pt. 1: events n Nick Cullather, Secret History, pp. xi-xix, 5-104 Tutorial issue: What is right/wrong with the UDHR? * Paper due Monday Nov 16 at 12 noon.
5 Tuesday Nov 17 - US intervention in Guatemala 1954, pt. 2: consequences Week 11 n Nick Cullather, Secret History, pp. 105-123 Thursday Nov 19 - Responsibility to protect: an introduction Guest speaker: Professor Paul Evans, Institute for Asian Research, UBC n The Responsibility to Protect (2001), pp. 1-18, 29-37 http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/iciss%20report.pdf n "Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan" (2008), pp. 3-9, 20-39 Tutorial issue: Were there alternatives to the Eisenhower policy toward Guatemala? Tuesday Nov 24 The enemies of the responsibility to protect (including Canada) Week 12 n The Responsibility to Protect (2001), pp. 65-75 n Fabrice Weissman, "'Not in Our Name': Why Médecins sans Frontières does not Support the 'Responsibility to Protect'," Criminal Justice Ethics 29:2 (Aug 2010), pp. 194-207 Thursday Nov 26 - Drones: the ultimate intervention? n www.livingunderdrones.org Tutorial issue: Is R2P the best policy? Tuesday Dec 1 The intervention against ISIS Week 13 Guest speaker: Professor Gregory Blue, University of Victoria Thursday Dec 3 - What have we achieved? Tutorial: Course review UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, 2007 Front page of the Daily Mirror, 21 October 2011