Has the war in Europe marked the “return of the law of the strongest”? Hendrik Simon explores this question in his new book, “The Right of Force: Why Weapons Alone Cannot Bring Peace,” to be published by Reclam Verlag on July 15, 2026.
Building on current debates about war, security, and international order, Simon reveals that war has never been merely political. Rather, violence has always required public justification. Using historical and contemporary examples, such as U.S. foreign policy and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Simon illustrates the strengths of international law, particularly as a protective mechanism against arbitrariness. Simon advocates for the primacy of law over politics guided solely by military power.
Simon also addresses questions of the justification of violence and the formation of the international order in TraCe Working Paper No. 2, “Transformation(s) of the Justification of Violence? On the Relationship Between the Legitimation of War and the Formation of the International Order in History and the Present,” which he co-authored with Lothar Brock. The new book “The Right of Force: Why Weapons Alone Cannot Bring Peace” will be available from Reclam Verlag starting July 15, 2026.