Russias Struggle for recognition and the dangers for international law and politics

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The lecture shall develop an understanding of the current crisis between Russia on the one hand, Ukraine and Western States on the other hand. It particularly asks for the impact that the crisis has on the current international legal and political system. The lecture will show that the recent conflict reveals a structural lack of recognition that States express towards international law; a lack of recognition that dates back way beyond the current crisis. Taking a series of prior violations of international law by Western States into account, it will be argued that we have to interpret the current crisis as part of a struggle for recognition in which Russia aims to oppose Western instrumental use of international law. Russia aims at regaining the political strength it has lost after the breakdown of the Soviet Union by demonstrating that it is powerful enough to get away with grave violations of international law. The lecture will provide some insight into the Russian strategy within this struggle for recognition as well as an overall assessment of the conflict.

Christian Marxsen is a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany. His current research focuses on the prohibition of the use of force in international law. He holds a Ph.D. in Legal Philosophy from the University of Hamburg and LL.M. from New York University.

Guobin Zhang, is researcher and post-doctoral fellow at Koguan Law School of Shanghai Jiaotong University. He specializes in international law and has extensively published on maritime law and the role of international law in the South China Sea conflict. He holds a Ph.D. from East China University of Political Science and Law.

Language: english