Schmitt’s Theory of Großraum: A Post-Statal Perspective?

Abstract

The article analyses some aspects of Schmitt’s theories on international law, in particular the notion of Großraum. The assumption is that with this notion Schmitt tries to re-think politics and international relations beyond the classical categories of the State. From this point of view, there is an essential affinity between the concept of politics (Begriff des Politischen) explained in the homonymous essay published in 1927 and the concept of Großraum. After the Second World War, Schmitt distances himself from the notion of Großraum, too close to the nazi theories, and focuses on that of nomos, explained in Der Nomos der Erde (1950), and on the crisis of the Jus publicum europaeum. However, Schmitt fails to define which system of international relations should follow the Jus publicum europaeum and the same notion of nomos remains rather undefined. In the last part of the paper the author compares Schmitt’s theories about international law and some theories of Kelsen, with particular reference to the theory of bellum justum.