The Law of Strangers Jewish Lawyers and International Law in the Twentieth Century

From the Nuremberg Trials to contemporary human rights, Jews have long played prominent roles in the making of international law. But the actual ties between Jewish heritage and legal thought remain a subject of mystery and conjecture even among specialists. This volume of biographical studies takes a unique interdisciplinary approach, pairing historians and legal scholars to explore how the Jewish identities and experiences shaped their legal thought and activism. Using newly-discovered sources and sophisticated interpretative methods, this book offers an alternative history of twentieth-century international legal profession - and a new model to the emerging field of international legal biography.

1. Introduction: the law of strangers James Loeffler and Moria Paz; Part I. Hersch Zvi Lauterpacht: 2. The 'natural right of the Jewish people': Zionism, international law, and the paradox of Hersch Lauterpacht James Loeffler; 3. A closet positivist: Lauterpacht between law and diplomacy Martti Koskeniemmi; Part II. Hans Kelsen: 4. Assimilation through law: Hans Kelsen and the Jewish experience Eliav Lieblich; 5. Philosophy beyond historicism: reflections on Hans Kelsen and the Jewish experience Leora Batnitzky; Part III. Louis Henkin: 6. Louis Henkin, human rights, and American-Jewish constitutional patriotism Samuel Moyn; 7. Louis Henkin and the genealogy of Jewish/American liberalism William Forbath; Part IV. Egon Schwelb: 8. Egon Schwelb and the human rights legal activism within borders Mira Siegelberg; 9. 'Emotional restraint' as legalist internationalism: Egon Schwelb's liberalism after the fall Umut Özsu; Part V. René Cassin: 10. A most inglorious right: René Cassin, freedom of movement, Jews and Palestinians Moria Paz; 11. There's no place like home: domicile, René Cassin, and the Aporias of modern international law Nathaniel Berman; Part VI. Shabtai Rosenne: 12. Shabtai Rosenne: the transformation of Sefton Rowson Rotem Giladi; 13. Shabtai Rosenne: a personal aspect Philippe Sands; Part VII. Julius Stone: 14. Enablement and constraint: Julius Stone and the contradictions of the sociological path to international law Jacqueline Mowbray; 15. An axionormative dissenter: reflections on Julius Stone David N. Myers; Index.

James Loeffler is Jay Berkowitz Professor of Jewish History at the University of Virginia and former Dean's Visiting Scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center. He is the author of Rooted Cosmopolitans: Jews and Human Rights in the Twentieth Century (2018).
Moria Paz is a Fellow at the Law School, Stanford University, California and the Center for National Security and the Law at Georgetown University Law Center. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Network or State?: International Law and the History of Jewish Self-Determination.