摘要：How to write (international) legal histories thatwould be true to their protagonists while simultaneouslyrelevant to present audiences? Most of uswould also want to write »critically« – that is to say,at least by aiming to avoid Eurocentrism, hagiographyand commitment to an altogether old-fashionedview of international law as an instrumentof progress. Hence we write today our histories»in context«. But this cannot be all. Framing therelevant »context« is only possible by drawingupon more or less conscious jurisprudential andpolitical preferences. Should attention be focusedon academic debates, military power, class structuresor assumptions about the longue durée? Suchchoices determine for us what we think of asrelevant »contexts«, and engage us as participantsin large conversations about law and power thatare not only about what once »was« but also whatthere will be in the future.
