‘Good governance’ and ‘state failure’: the pseudo-science of statesmen in our times

Abstract

This chapter argues that the conceptions of race and imperialism that underlie such approaches cannot sufficiently account for the shifting patterns of legal argument over the past decade. It argues that instead it is necessary to foreground role of inter-imperialist rivalry in creating particular legal forms of racialisation. The chapter attempts to reflect more broadly what role inter-imperialist rivalry plays in relationship between imperialism and international law and how this can illuminate questions of racialisation more directly. It argues that while law on use of force clearly is racialised, one cannot simply understand this racialisation as a process of creating a group of 'Others', who are outside of normal protections of international law and can be intervened in with impunity. The chapter focuses that international law plays an absolutely key role in instantiating the racialised relations of imperialism, with rivalry being a key part of this process. It concludes that we must understand 'global colour line' in more complex ways.