One State’s Rebel Is Another State’s Agent

Abstract

Abstract In State Responsibility and Rebels, Kathryn Greenman explores the post-colonial history of state responsibility, the doctrine of international law that determines whether a state has breached its obligations and what, if anything, can be done about it. Today, the doctrine is one of the most frequently referenced ones of international law. Greenman shows that international arbitrators have applied the rules of state responsibility in order to support a global economic order that sustains Western investments and trade. Greenman also highlights the bilateral or transactional nature of the doctrine. The early practice of state responsibility has been a story of political concessions. Western states would often withhold their recognition of governments until the latter agreed to arbitrate international claims such as injuries to aliens during the rebellions. The resulting awards were often inchoate analyses of international law, in which arbitrators would attribute liability to states for conduct that was often out of their control. These findings are as interesting as they are relevant to today’s international practice. Indeed, says Greenman, imposing state responsibility for conduct that is outside of a state’s control is effectively sustaining the legacy of international law’s colonial past.