Wielding the spiritual sword again: Some considerations on neo-medievalism in modern international order

Abstract

This article traces the paradoxes within the modern international system, which is guided by liberal norms and values, in particular pertaining to human rights. This system is seen here as being ruled by an empty norm: power is present, but it is disembodied. Therefore, the entire international order is open to uses and abuses by the most powerful actors in the international sphere, especially the power states. Furthermore, when combined with the fact that the modern world has been completely appropriated by humanity as a universal integrated whole, whoever falls outside the dominant normative structure is, in effect, no longer even part of humanity. To analyse the means and effects of such tension between the universal and the particular, this article draws analogies with the medieval struggle between the secular and the religious authorities. It is argued that currently one can observe a return of the Respublica Christiana in the form of a rights-centred ‘international community’. And yet, contrary to earlier scholarly attempts to draw analogies with the Middle Ages, this return is seen here as a dangerous employment of political theology.