BOOK: "Balance of Power and Norm Hierarchy. Franco-British Diplomacy after the Peace of Utrecht" by F. Dhondt

Frederik Dhondt, Ghent University

Balance of Power and Norm Hierarchy: Franco-British Diplomacy after the Peace of Utrechtoffers a detailed study of French and British diplomacy in the age of ‘Walpole and Fleury’. After Louis XIV’s decease, European international relations were dominated by the collaboration between James Stanhope and Guillaume Dubois. Their alliance focused on the amendment and enlargement of the peace treaties of Utrecht, Rastatt and Baden. In-depth analysis of vast archival material uncovers the practical legal arguments used between Hampton Court and Versailles. ‘Balance of Power’ or ‘Tranquillity of Europe’ were in fact metaphors for the predominance of treaty law even over the most fundamental municipal norms. An implacable logic of norm hierarchy allowed to consolidate peace in Europe.

Biographical note

Dr. Frederik Dhondt (1984) studied law (Ghent University), history (Ghent/Paris-Sorbonne) and international relations (Sciences Po Paris) and was a visiting researcher in Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Geneva. He currently is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (Ghent University).

Readership

All interested in European legal history and/or the history of public international law, diplomacy, French or British history, Ancien Régime European international relations, 18th century history.