Theorizing state civil disobedience in international politics

Illegal state actions are sometimes interpreted as civil disobedience. Yet, liberal theorists insist that, to count as such, states must intend to reform the systemic imperfections of the international legal order. Moreover, states must have the capacity to engineer such reforms responsibly. These requirements result in an elitist conception of international civil disobedience because weaker states cannot refashion the key rules of the...