Three Generations of Western Assassinations in the Global South, Decolonization and the Progressivist Narrative of International Law

Summary, in English

This paper situates political assassinations by Western states in the global south in a wider discussion concerning decolonization and the progressivist narrative of international law. The paper looks at three generations of such assassinations, focusing on the international legal environments in which they took place and setting the parameters for both legitimation and opposition: the mid-twentieth century liberation struggles in Africa and the Middle East, the era of the new states that followed and, finally, the late twentieth- and early twenty-first century era of counter-terrorism hegemony. Looking at these three generations from the perspective of Antony Anghie’s notion of the “dynamic of difference” – the mechanisms through which international law constantly evolves and, at the same time returns to its colonial heritage – the paper offers a reflection on the rise and fall of an international law that might be able to put an end to such killings and a critique of what might be seen as the establishment of a transnational law for political assassinations.

• Author: Markus Gunneflo
• Department/s: Public International Law; Department of Law
• Publishing year: 2016-10-06
• Language: Swedish
• Document type: Conference paper: abstract
• Topic: Law
• Keywords: folkrätt; lönnmord; international law; assassinations
• Conference name: historicizing International (Humanitarian) Law: Could we? Should we?
• Conference date: 2016-10-06 - 2016-10-08
• Conference place: Uppsala, Sweden
• Status: Published
• Research group: Public International Law