Walter Rech

 

Visiting lecturer

Country: Italy

Walter is an interdisciplinary scholar and lecturer working at the intersection of international law, history and philosophy. His current research focuses on state-sponsored targeted killing and political assassination from the perspective of international law. It explores the legal and ethical dilemmas involved in the individualized elimination of enemies and the implications of this tactic for international law and international politics.

Academic degrees: PhD in Law, University of Melbourne

Other positions: Core Fellow, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies

Previous positions: Postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator, University of Helsinki 

Research areas: international law, history of legal and political thought, war and security studies, human rights and rule of law

Courses: Research methods in human rights law (Tallinn); International law moot court (Helsinki)

Notable publications:

Books:

  • International Law and Empire: Historical Explorations, ed. Martti Koskenniemi, Walter Rech, Manuel Jiménez Fonseca (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).  
  • Enemies of Mankind: Vattel’s Theory of Collective Security (Leiden: Brill, 2013).  

Articles:

  • ‘Some Remarks on the EU’s Action on the Erosion of the Rule of Law in Poland and Hungary’ (2018) 26 Journal of Contemporary European Studies 334–345.  
  • ‘Between Regional Community and Global Society: Europe in the Shadow of Schmitt and Kojève’ (2017) 13 (2) Journal of International Political Theory 143–61, co-authored with Janis Grzybowski.  
  • ‘Rightless Enemies: Schmitt and Lauterpacht on Political Piracy’ (2012) 32 (2) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 235–63.  

 

Notable projects:

Targeted killing and international law:  

 

Recent talks:

  • L’assassinio politico nella Repubblica di Venezia, University of Venice Ca’ Foscari, 19 September 2022.
  • War Stratagems as Liminal Tactics, Critical Legal Conference, University of Tromsø, 31 August – 2 September 2022. 
  • Political Murder and the Common Good, Conference of the European Society for the History of Political Thought, University of Helsinki, 25–26 August 2022.