LAW7 775 - International Ifs in the Mid-Twentieth Century

This seminar undertakes a variety of “what if?” speculations associated with crucial events affecting the United States in the middle of the 20th century, with special attention paid to the potential role of international law. Could, for example, free-trade treaties and a more enlightened international currency policy have prevented the Great Depression? If the United States had ratified the Treaty of Versailles and joined the League of Nations, would Germany’s initial conquests in Europe have been prevented? If the United States had taken a different approach to its diplomacy with Japan, would Pearl Harbor have occurred? In the context of developing these and other case studies, we will examine the role of international law and other factors in the actual events, develop a typology of questions to ask in rigorously pursuing associated legal-historical hypotheticals, and debate whether one speculation about an alternative course of events can ever be more valid than any other speculation.

Credits: 3