The post-WWII liberal world order seems like a falling historic monument. More so is the post-Cold War optimism about open borders and erosion of nationalist sensibilities. International institutions, multilateral treaties, freedom of movement of goods, services and people, and the poster-children of globalization all are suffering. Across the globe, some potent, radical New Right movements continue to take dismayed liberal internationalists by surprise.
Is it all a backlash against internationalist elites and to be dismissed as populism? Is it a consequence of neoliberalism? Did it come about in reaction to the overreach of international adjudication? Is it in fact about territory and sovereignty against aggressive transnationalization? Is populism limited to the Right? What are various forms of populism and how are they different? Is constitutionalism a foolproof response to populism, or itself at fault for overreaching by excessive crystalization of social demands into rights? Is the New Right a new ideology? Is it an intellectual or merely political movement or both?
In response to these questions, this course aims to investigate the intellectual progenitors of both the New Right and populism at the intersection of history, political theory, and international legal theory. We will study the old to learn not to overestimate the threat of the new; explore the theoretical roots of conservatism to discover if they have any familial ties to the New Right of our time; and inquire whether international law is in fact an innocent casualty of the populist and New Right movements across the globe.
Method of Evaluation:
1) Class participation based on attendance and quality of contributions – 40%.
2) Research paper (5,000 words for first year and 7,000 words for upper year students, excluding bibliography if relevant and footnotes) – 60%.