order to enable the development of the National Missile Defence scheme).
Nevertheless, ‘realist’ international relations theory, in whichraison d’e ́tatis a
vital concept, is still a common predisposition among many international
relations intellectuals and practitioners.
Raison de guerre
The idea ofraison de guerrefirst developed in the 17th century, at the time that
international lawwas beginning to be a serious intellectual activity in the
works of writers likeGrotius.Raison de guerreis essentially a derogation from
the rules of international law, and especially from the theory ofjust war. All it
amounts to is the acceptance that armies will ultimately do whatever they have
to do to win. The concept is linked closely to the more general doctrine of
raison d’e ́tat, that the protection of a state and the furtherance of its interest will
always dominate in foreign policy. There is a weaker version ofraison de guerre
which does not allow a breach of the laws of war, but does allow acts which
would normally be considered immoral and uncivilized. For example the allied
bombing of Monte Cassino in the Second World War, and the consequent
destruction of one of Europe’s finest monasteries and libraries, was justified by
the doctrine ofraison de guerre.
Ratification
The process of ratification is the formal approval required by many constitu-
tions which set up elaborate systems of checks and balances and which seeks to
make certain kinds of constitutional change difficult to achieve without a
substantial measure of political unanimity. Thus in the USA, for example,
treaties negotiated by the president must be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the
Senate—in some cases, such as the Treaty of Versailles after the First World War
and the SALT II treaty on arms control, Senate support was not forthcoming.
Constitutional amendments in the USA need to be ratified by a vote in each of
the state legislatures. Similarly, acts and treaties which amend the founding
treaties of theEuropean Unionrequire ratification by the legislature of each
member state and, since the Single European Act came into force in 1987, by
the European Parliament. Even where such a treaty does not require parlia-
mentary ratification, an analogous process may exist where it is tested for
compatibility with the constitution by some body like aconstitutional court,
which is the applicable doctrine in France and Germany.
Rational Choice Theory
Rational choice theory came to the other social sciences, especially political
science and, more belatedly sociology, from economics, in the second half of
Raison de guerre