Balance of power and international law. European diplomacy and the elaboration of the international order, 18th century and post-1945.

Our research treats the balance of power-system of the early 18th century (1713-1740) and its return in the European contestation of the bipolar world order after 1945. The legal translation of aspirations to a multipolar order constitutes our analytical framework, while the diplomatic correspondence is our main source (sparsely treated by legal scholars, who primary study treaties and theory).