Theresa Reinold

Ms. Reinold's research explores the evolution of the concept of sovereignty as responsibility, focusing in particular on the influence of U.S. international legal strategies on the transformation of sovereignty. Ms. Reinold discusses the extent to which U.S. hegemonic law-making strategies have contributed to transforming the institution of sovereignty and how, as a consequence, the law governing the use of force has been reshaped. During the Cold war, the concept of sovereignty as control determined the rules of inter-state relations. However, in the 1990s, an understanding of sovereignty emerged in state practice and international discourse that highlights states' responsibilities toward their national constituencies as well as to the international community as a whole - responsibilities, which in some cases were even enforced militarily. Ms. Reinold distinguishes these responsibilities as the responsibility to protect, respect and deliver. In order to assess the current status of the concept of sovereignty as responsibility in customary international law, she will analyze U.S. intervention practices in genocidal regimes, rogue states and failed states, as well as international reactions to these.