2016

Honorable Mention: Lauri Mälksoo
Title: Russian Approaches to International Law (Oxford University Press)

In this original, objective, and deeply researched volume, Lauri Mälksoo grounds current debates about Russian international legal understandings in a distinct intellectual and analytical tradition. He demonstrates that what many in the international community have commonly thought of as the Russian state’s obstreperousness on international legal questions is actually based on a cohesive philosophy extending back before Soviet times, reflected in legal scholarship that echoes through the generations. Mälksoo connects these ideas and theories to Russia’s actual practical engagement with the law, including in the areas of human rights, economics, and military intervention. The book uses this framework to dissect many important contemporary cases, including Kosovo, the Russia-Georgia war, Crimea, the Yukos oil conglomerate controversy, and the European Court of Human Rights. By situating Russian legal understandings in the current “civilizational” and “regionalization” foreign policy imperatives, this book stands as a testimony to the value of historical institutionalism in explaining foreign policy choices.

Winner: Eileen Kane