BOOK: Willem Theo OOSTERVELD, The Law of Nations in Early American Foreign Policy. Theory and Practice from the Revolution to the Monroe Doctrine [Theory and Practice of Public International Law, ed. V. Chetail] (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff/Brill, 2015), XIV + 359 p. ISBN 9789004305670

(image source: Brill)

Willem Theo Oosterveld (Hague Centre for Strategic Studies) published The Law of Nations in Early American Foreign Policy in Brill's new series "Theory and Practice of Public International Law" (ed. V. Chetail).

Summary:

In The Law of Nations in Early American Foreign Policy, Willem Theo Oosterveld provides the first general study of international law as interpreted and applied by the generation of the Founding Fathers. A mostly neglected aspect in the historiography of the early republic, this study argues that international law was in fact an integral part of the Revolutionary creed.
Taking the reader from colonial debates about the law of nations to the discussions about slavery in the early 19th century, this study shows the zest of the Founders to conduct foreign policy on the basis of treatises such as Vattel’s The Law of Nations. But it also highlights the deep ambiguities and sometimes personal struggles that arose when applying international law.

 On the author:

Willem Theo Oosterveld (Ph.D, Graduate Institute, Geneva, 2011) is a strategic analyst with The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies in The Hague (Netherlands), where he works on issues relating to conflict, justice and development.

 More information on the publisher's website.

Source: International Law Reporter.