Denver Journal of International Law & Policy Volume 31 Number 2 Winter Article 2 April 2020 Honour's Role in the International States' System Allen Z. Hertz Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/djilp Recommended Citation Allen Z. Hertz, Honour's Role in the International States' System, 31 Denv. J. Int'l L. & Pol'y 113 (2002). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Journal of International Law & Policy by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. HONOUR'S ROLE IN THE INTERNATIONAL STATES' SYSTEM* ALLEN Z. HERTZ* INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY Studying the First World War's origins, James Joll (1918-1994), Professor of International History at the University of London, offered this insight: "In the late 20th century we perhaps find it easier to conceive of foreign policy as being motivated by domestic preoccupations and by economic interests than by... considerations of prestige and glory. It does not necessarily follow that the men of 1914 thought in the same way as we do."' To recapture that age which ended during the First World War, this essay analyzes the meaning of "honour" as a staple of European political philosophy. The significance of the "word of honour" is then located in the context of European courtly society, where a king's honour is explored in relation to that of his country and in the "international of kings" that was the European States' system until 1917-18.