“Parliament of Man, Federation of the World”: Repertoires of Statecraft, the Hague Conferences, and the Making of the Liberal Order

Abstract

ABSTRACT Contemporary power politics often takes place in liberal fora, yet scholars have not paid sustained attention to the origins and characteristics of this mode of statecraft. To trace the development of these repertoires, the negotiation practices of the 1899 and 1907 Hague conferences represent a critical transition from realist practices of the Concert system to twentieth-century liberal internationalism. At The Hague, states experimented with using parliamentary procedure: they introduced motions, held votes, signed and ratified agreements. The Hague conferences were also an occasion where states grappled with questions of institutional design. More broadly, the conferences were a moment when states appealed to concepts of public opinion, international society, and “civilisation” to legitimise change. The methods that diplomats developed for managing tensions within and amongst these repertoires remain a familiar feature of liberal statecraft until the present day.