Global Studies Seminar presents Dane Imerman

The Global Studies Seminar presents “Constraining the Use of Force in Successive International Orders,” by Dane Imerman, visiting assistant professor of political science and international studies at Denison.

Imerman received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Ohio State University. Before becoming Visiting Professor of Political Science at Denison, he served as Visiting Professor of Politics at Oberlin College. Imerman’s research and teaching focus on the intersection between international organizations and security, with special attention to the socio-historical evolution of international orders. His recent publications include articles on the evolution of UN humanitarian intervention and the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Those interested in the movement toward global governance, as well as those concerned with the normative issue of progress in international politics, have long debated the most important steps toward this end. Imerman presents an argument that eroding state sovereignty is a necessary condition for global governance, and this begins by constraining the fundamental right of sovereignty - the use of violence to achieve state interests. In establishing his argument, Imerman compares the norms of violence during the European Concert Era (19th century), the League of Nations Era (between WWI and WWII), the Cold War Era, and the United Nations since the end of the Cold War. Imerman finds that constraints have been strengthening since 1815, particularly for less powerful states, suggesting the foundations for global governance began long before the current era.