Justifying the Unjustifiable: Russia’s Aggression against Ukraine, International Law, and Carl Schmitt’s “Theory of the Greater Space” (“Großraumtheorie”)

Abstract Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has been accompanied by attempts to justify this blatant violation of international law with reference to the accepted exceptions to the prohibition of the use of force. These attempts had to fail from the outset as the necessary preconditions were not given. More pernicious is, however, the endeavor to find a justification in an “alternative” system of international law. The respective arguments echo considerations popular in the first half of the 20th century, such as Carl Schmitt’s “theory of the greater space” and the “theory of encirclement”. To accept a revival of such arguments, even only in part, risks undermining the very basics of modern international law. Ultimately, to allow this “obsession with territory” (Georges Scelle) to unfold would not even be in Russia’s interest as it would deflect from this country’s real economic and societal problems that need urgent action.