Jaume Castan Pinos – författare

This book develops a new conceptualisation of lawfare that recognises the polysemantic nature of the term.

Drawing on theoretical developments from legal anthropology, international relations, and social theory, the book scrutinises the multiple dimensions of this phenomenon. It illustrates the multifaceted character of lawfare with a wide range of historical and contemporary cases from across the globe and analyses the implications of actors pursuing political objectives through legal means. This includes the use of lawfare by states as a legal instrument to accomplish geopolitical objectives, domestic lawfare, or the use of legal instruments to undermine internal opposition, and state lawfare used by governments to ‘protect’ the state from internal territorial-secessionist challenges. Finally, the book shows that lawfare is not exclusively a tool for hegemonic actors, as it can also be used by civil society actors that aim to uphold their rights through legal instruments in asymmetric lawfare.

This book contributes to new developments in lawfare without shying away from controversy, acknowledging its sometimes-brutal efficacy as well as its potential pitfalls. The book will appeal to scholars and students of law, international relations, political science, anthropology, and sociology.

This book develops a new conceptualisation of lawfare that recognises the polysemantic nature of the term.

Drawing on theoretical developments from legal anthropology, international relations, and social theory, the book scrutinises the multiple dimensions of this phenomenon. It illustrates the multifaceted character of lawfare with a wide range of historical and contemporary cases from across the globe and analyses the implications of actors pursuing political objectives through legal means. This includes the use of lawfare by states as a legal instrument to accomplish geopolitical objectives, domestic lawfare, or the use of legal instruments to undermine internal opposition, and state lawfare used by governments to ‘protect’ the state from internal territorial-secessionist challenges. Finally, the book shows that lawfare is not exclusively a tool for hegemonic actors, as it can also be used by civil society actors that aim to uphold their rights through legal instruments in asymmetric lawfare.

This book contributes to new developments in lawfare without shying away from controversy, acknowledging its sometimes-brutal efficacy as well as its potential pitfalls. The book will appeal to scholars and students of law, international relations, political science, anthropology, and sociology.

Humanitarian intervention is rising ever higher in international relations discourse, with many publications exploring the nature, legality and success of these interventions. However, less attention is given to what happens after an intervention. This book looks in particular at the implications for territorial and border relations, exploring the case of Kosovo, which in many ways can be seen as a turning point in post-cold war international humanitarian intervention. The 1999 intervention has had significant consequences for Kosovo in terms of political transformations, territorial alterations and enclavisation, none of which was officially intended or foreseen when NATO intervened.

Two decades after NATO’s intervention and a decade after unilaterally declaring independence, Kosovo continues to be confronted with daunting existential challenges that inevitably affect the stability of the region, border relations, and the credibility of the organisations operating within Kosovo, namely the UN, the EU and NATO. The book claims that not only is the political and territorial conflict far from being settled, but that the implications have gone beyond Kosovo, creating shock waves which have galvanised conflicts elsewhere. In effect, Kosovo has been used as a pretext, as a legitimation and as an inspiration for those who aspire to challenge the border status quo.

The book is primarily aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students of International Relations and Political Science and as well as Border Studies scholars, but will also appeal to researchers focusing on state-building, peace-building, humanitarian studies, nationalism/secessionism and Balkan studies.

Humanitarian intervention is rising ever higher in international relations discourse, with many publications exploring the nature, legality and success of these interventions. However, less attention is given to what happens after an intervention. This book looks in particular at the implications for territorial and border relations, exploring the case of Kosovo, which in many ways can be seen as a turning point in post-cold war international humanitarian intervention. The 1999 intervention has had significant consequences for Kosovo in terms of political transformations, territorial alterations and enclavisation, none of which was officially intended or foreseen when NATO intervened.

Two decades after NATO’s intervention and a decade after unilaterally declaring independence, Kosovo continues to be confronted with daunting existential challenges that inevitably affect the stability of the region, border relations, and the credibility of the organisations operating within Kosovo, namely the UN, the EU and NATO. The book claims that not only is the political and territorial conflict far from being settled, but that the implications have gone beyond Kosovo, creating shock waves which have galvanised conflicts elsewhere. In effect, Kosovo has been used as a pretext, as a legitimation and as an inspiration for those who aspire to challenge the border status quo.

The book is primarily aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students of International Relations and Political Science and as well as Border Studies scholars, but will also appeal to researchers focusing on state-building, peace-building, humanitarian studies, nationalism/secessionism and Balkan studies.

This book analyses the strategies and narratives of Non-State Armed Actors (NSAAs), principally relying on primary material and interviews conducted by the author. The book develops a simple model based on goals and means, which allows us to increase our understanding and comprehension of organisations and individuals that decide to take up arms in the name of a political cause. One of the key arguments is that statehood plays a critical role for NSAAs, irrespective of their military capabilities, ideological aspirations and geographic origins. They are ‘non-state’ not by choice but because they are unable to be a ‘state’ actor. In other words, their stateless status is a matter of lack of power, not lack of will.

With the aim of shedding light on the intimate relationship between NSAAs and statehood, the book examines 25 cases from around the globe. These armed actors use violence in order to attain divergent political aims, which are segmented into two macro categories, namely territorial change (secessionists) and regime change (Marxists-Leninist, Salafi-Jihadists and far-right).