Stromseth Jane, Wippman David, Brooks Rosa. Can Might Make Rights? Building the Rule of Law After Military Interventions

Cambridge University Press, 2006. — 426 p.This book looks at why it is so difficult to create “the rule of law” in postconflict societies such as Iraq and Afghanistan and offers critical insights into how policymakers and field-workers can improve future rule of law efforts. Aimed at policymakers, field-workers, journalists, and students trying to make sense of the international community’s problems in Iraq and elsewhere, this book shows how a narrow focus on building institutions such as courts and legislatures misses the more complex political and cultural issues that affect societal commitment to the values associated with the rule of law. The authors place the rule of law in context, showing the interconnectedness between the rule of law and other post-conflict priorities, from reestablishing security to revitalizing civil society. The authors outline a pragmatic, synergistic approach to the rule of law that promises to reinvigorate debates about transitions to democracy and post-conflict reconstruction.
Jane Stromseth is a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, where she teaches in the fields of international law and constitutional law. She has written widely on international law governing the use of force, humanitarian intervention, accountability for human rights atrocities, and constitutional war powers. She has served in government as a director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council and as an attorney-advisor in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State. She serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of International Law.
David Wippman is Vice Provost for International Relations, Cornell University, and a professor of law at Cornell University Law School. He previously served as a partner at Reichler, Appelbaum, & Wippman, a firm specializing in the representation of developing countries, and as a director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council. Wippman is coauthor (with Steve Ratner and Jeff Dunoff) of International Law: Norms, Actors, Process (2d ed. 2006).
Rosa Brooks is a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, currently on leave while serving as Special Counsel at the Open Society Institute. Before entering academia, Brooks served as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and as a consultant for Human RightsWatch and other nongovernmental organizations. She serves on the executive council of the American Society of International Law, and she writes a weekly opinion column for the Los Angeles Times.