James Q. Whitman, "The Verdict of Battle"

1,698 views · Published 14 January 2011 · 1:04:35 · Indexed 22 October 2026

Channel: The University of Chicago · 2011 · News & Politics

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In its classic form, a "decisive" pitched battle was a beautifully contained event, lasting a single day, killing only combatants, and resolving legal questions of immense significance. Yet since the mid-nineteenth century, pitched battles no longer decide wars, which now routinely degenerate into general devastation. Why did pitched battle ever work as a conflict resolution device? Why has it ceased working since 1860? James Q. Whitman is Ford Foundation Professor of Comparative and Foreign Law at Yale Law School. This Maurice and Muriel Fulton Lecture in Legal History was recorded May 7, 2009.

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