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<i>The Fog of Law: Pragmatism, Security, and International Law</i>

Woodrow Wilson Center Press has published a new book, The Fog of Law: Pragmatism, Security, and International Law, by Michael J. Glennon. It is co-published with Stanford University Press.

The Fog of Law lays out alternatives to international law before addressing specific topics including terrorism, nuclear proliferation, the United Nations, and self-determination in regard to law that transcends national borders.

When and why are international rules binding? Focusing on issues concerning security, The Fog of Law takes on the universalism that underpins traditional answers based upon natural law or states' own consent. Instead, Michael J. Glennon argues that states' compliance obligations are best explained by pragmatism?a "frame of mind" that looks to the fluctuating network of incentives and disincentives surrounding international rules, producing answers that are fact-dependent and context-sensitive.

The Fog of Law defends this approach against a variety of competitors and works through key issues, including the UN's use of force rules, security assurances, nuclear proliferation, and the new crime of aggression proposed for the International Criminal Court. The latter was the subject of a major international conference in May 2010.

"Michael Glennon is the most articulate advocate of legal pragmatism since Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. The Fog of Law provides a rigorous theoretical basis for a recommendation that the UN Charter's rules on use of force be declared in desuetude, and sheds light on the proposed law of aggression and other disputed issues. No defender of legal universalism can afford to ignore the challenge of this book."—Pierre Hassner, Research Director Emeritus, Sciences Po, Paris

"At a time when many seek peace and security through treaties, statutes, and UN Security Council resolutions, Glennon wisely reminds us that what matters most is not how much law statesmen create, but how much they actually follow."—Charles Lane, author of The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction

"A most timely contribution that provokes important reflections, whatever one's perspective on the rule of law or the limits of international law. This book deserves to be read widely in the United States and, even more so, beyond its shores, to understand the politics of pragmatism."—Philippe Sands, University College London

Michael J. Glennon is a professor of international law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He was Legal Counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has served as a consultant to the U.S. State Department and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in 2001–2.

To reach Michael J. Glennon for an interview, call (617) 627-3941 or e-mail michael.glennon@tufts.edu. Media may also contact Sharon McCarter, Vice President for Outreach and Communications, at sharon.mccarter@wilsoncenter.org or (202) 691-4016.

The Fog of Law: Pragmatism, Security, and International Law is distributed by Stanford University Press, accessible online at www.sup.org or by telephone at 1-800-621-2736. The list price is $40 for hardcover.

Woodrow Wilson Center Press publishes books by fellows, resident scholars, and staff written in substantial part at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Titles range from popular accounts of historical topics to fundamental reviews of scholarly fields to authoritative backgrounds on important policy issues. For more information about the Press, or to search its backlist of titles, please visit www.wilsoncenter.org/press.