| Publication |
2007.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The perceived legitimacy of US foreign policy plummeted in the wake of the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Most commentators would agree that international law, or at least US actions in relation to international law, had something to do with this decline. But, what the recent debate as to how best to restore US legitimacy has starkly revealed, is that we know little as to just how international law accords legitimacy to certain foreign policy endeavours. While the legality of the action may have much to do with it, the relationship between international law, foreign policy and legitimacy appears to be more complex than is suggested by a straightforward legal-illegal categorization of behaviour. A theorization of international law as ideology can provide an overall explanation of the role of international law in the decline in US foreign policy legitimacy following the invasion of Iraq
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