Hugo Grotius in International Thought The Palgrave Macmillan History of International Thought Seriesseeks to publish the best work in this growing and increasingly important field of academic inquiry. Its scholarly monographs cover three types of work: (i) exploration of the intellectual impact of individual thinkers, from key disciplinary figures to neglected ones; (ii) examination of the origin, evolution, and contemporary relevance of specific schools or traditions of international thought; and (iii) analysis of the evolution of particular ideas and concepts in the field. Both classical (pre-1919) and modern (post-1919) thought are covered. Its books are written to be accessible to audiences in International Relations, International History, Political Theory, and Sociology. Series Editor: Peter Wilson, London School of Economics and Political Science Advisory Board: Jack Donnelly, University of Denver Fred Halliday, London School of Economics and Political Science David Long, Carleton University Hidemi Suganami, University of Keele Also in the Series: Internationalism and Nationalism in European Political Thought by Carsten Holbraad The International Theory of Leonard Woolf: A Study in Twentieth-Century Idealism by Peter Wilson Tocqueville, Lieber, and Bagehot: Liberalism Confronts the World by David Clinton Harold Laski: Problems of Democracy, the Sovereign State, and International Society by Peter Lamb The War Over Perpetual Peace: An Exploration into the History of a Foundational International Relations Text by Eric S. Easley Liberal Internationalism and the Decline of the State: The Thought of Richard Cobden, David Mitrany, and Kenichi Ohmae by Per Hammarlund Classical and Modern Thought on International Relations: From Anarchy to Cosmopolis by Robert Jackson The Hidden History of Realism: A Genealogy of Power Politics by Seán Molloy Hugo Grotius in International Thought by Renée Jeffery Hugo Grotius in International Thought Renée Jeffery HUGOGROTIUSININTERNATIONALTHOUGHT © Renée Jeffery,2006. All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2006 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010 and Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire,England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St.Martin’s Press,LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States,United Kingdom and other countries.Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13:978–1–4039–7529–4 ISBN-10:1–4039–7529–9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jeffery,Renée. Hugo Grotius in international thought / Renée Jeffery. p.cm.—(Palgrave Macmillan history of international thought series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–4039–7529–9 1.International relations.2.Grotius,Hugo,1583–1645. 3.Political scientists—Netherlands—Biography.4.International law. 5.Natural law.I.Title.II.Palgrave Macmillan series on the history of international thought. JZ1305.J43 2006 341.092—dc22 2006041593 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.,Chennai,India. First edition:September 2006 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. Contents Acknowledgments vi List of Abbreviations viii Chapter 1 The Grotius Story 1 Chapter 2 Hugo Grotius on the Rights of War and Peace 27 Chapter 3 Grotian Morality in Europe and Beyond 51 Chapter 4 The Grotian Tradition in International Thought 85 Chapter 5 Hugo Grotius and Twentieth-Century International Relations 113 Conclusion 139 Notes 153 Select Bibliography 189 Index 207 Acknowledgments This work began its life as a PhD thesis submitted at the University of St Andrews in 2004. During my time as a PhD student and the subsequent months during which I attempted, I hope successfully, to make the manuscript look less like a thesis and more like a book, I benefited from assistance and support from a range of sources. I am particularly grate- ful to Universities UK for the provision of an Overseas Research Scholarship and the University of St Andrews for their generous support in the form of a St Andrews Research Scholarship. Without such financial backing, in partic- ular that provided by the University of St Andrews, it would not have been possible for me to enjoy the invaluable experience of writing my PhD in the United Kingdom. Marc Williams must be credited with first inspiring my interest in international relations as an undergraduate at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. As my honours dissertation supervisor, Marc introduced me not only to the world of international relations theory but guided my first piece of research with great dedication. I was also fortunate enough to enrol in Michael Wesley’s notoriously difficult “Theories and Methods of International Relations” course in my final year at UNSW, a course that has continued to stand me in good stead. It was on Michael’s recommendation that I first applied to, and later accepted, a place to do my PhD at the University of St Andrews as he had done some years earlier. As my PhD supervisor at St Andrews, Nick Rengger dealt both with me and the trials and tribulations my thesis brought with characteristic grace, humor and under- standing. In particular, Nick must be credited with introducing me to the world of ideas and for that I will always be grateful. This work has also benefited from discussions with Kirsten Ainley, William Bain, Charles Beitz, Chris Brown, Tim Dunne, Mark Imber, Edward Keene, Tony Lang, Andrew Linklater and Peter Wilson. In particular, Andrew Acknowledgments ● vii Linklater was the best examiner any PhD student could hope for. Not only did he provide a rigorous and sustained critique of the thesis but offered invaluable advice about the reworking of the manuscript for publication. I am also grate- ful for the support I have received from my new colleagues at La Trobe University, in particular, Judith Brett, Anthony Jarvis, Robert Manne, and Tom Weber. However, the person that deserves the greatest thanks from me is Ian Hall. Not only was Ian a great source of advice, constructive criticism, and friendship during my time at StAndrews but a great source of support during the arduous process of revising the work. Finally, to my parents, David and Annemarie, who have, for as long as I can remember, sought to foster, encour- age and support my interest in all things academic. In this I am very much a product of my upbringing and for that I will always be grateful. List of Abbreviations Works by Hugo Grotius DJB De Jure Belli ac Pacis Libri Tres(The Rights of War and Peace in Three Books) DJP De Jure Praedae Commentarius (Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty) DA De Antiquitate Reipublicae Batavicae (The Antiquity of the Batavian Republic) RE De Republica Emendanda(An Emendation of the Republic) CiT Commentarius in Theses XI(Commentary on Eleven Theses) Works by Other Authors EJU Elementorum Jurisprudentiae Universalis Libri Duo (Elements of Universal Jurisprudence in Two Books) by Samuel Pufendorf DJN De Jure Naturae et Gentium Libri Octo(The Law of Nature and Nations in Eight Books) by Samuel Pufendorf OHC De Officio Hominis et Civis juxta Legem naturalem (On the Duty of Man and Citizen) by Samuel Pufendorf JGM Jus Gentium Methodo Scientifica Pertractatum (The Law of Nations Treated According to a Scientific Method) by Christian von Wolff LDG Le Droit des Gens, ou Principes de la Loi Naturelle appliqués à la Conduit et aux Affaires des Nations et des Souverains (The Law of Nations or the Principles of the Law of Nature Applied to the Conduct and to the Affairs of Nations and of Sovereigns) by Emerich de Vattel TGS Transactions of the Grotius Society CHAPTER 1 The Grotius Story Not only is there no consensus over the nature of the man, his work, and how it is to be used, these divisions have often obscured the fact that there is no agreement over what it actually means to be “Grotian.” Self- confessed members see themselves, and their tradition, in markedly distinct ways whilst claiming their often contradictory values to be quintessentially “Grotian.” These contradictions were perhaps a consequence of the Grotian predilection for inconclusiveness.1 In contemporary international thought Hugo Grotius stands alongside Thomas Hobbes and Immanuel Kant in something of a “holy trinity” of classical theorists. His 1625 work De Jure Belli ac Pacis (The Rights of War and Peace) is rightly counted alongside Hobbes’ Leviathan and Kant’s Perpetual Peace as one of the most important “classics” of international thought.2The exemplar of the so-called “rationalist” tradition of international theory, Grotius is often viewed as mediating the contending claims of the “realist” and “revolutionist” traditions represented by Hobbes and Kant respectively.3Unlike his esteemed counterparts however, the historical figure of Grotius remains something of an unknown quantity in much contemporary scholarship. Undoubtedly a writer more cited than read, Grotius has become a thinker perhaps more mythologized than understood in all his color and complexity.4 As a result, his contribution to the history of ideas in interna- tional thought is more often viewed in terms of his subsequent, and often anachronistic, placement within one or more retrospectively constructed intellectual traditions, than in terms of his own writings. In large part, blame for the reluctance with which contemporary scholars have given serious consideration to Grotius’ life and works can be laid