Research note: 'In the Shadow of the Great Powers: Freedom of the Sea and Neutrality in the Long Eighteenth Century'

This note announces the launch of a research project at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
with the generous support of the Carlsberg Foundation and guidance from Prof. dr.
Frederik Dhondt. The project explores the early steps of one of the most dynamic and
debated branches of international law, namely the law of the sea. It focuses on the
interactions between the principle of the freedom of the sea, maritime neutrality and
small powers’ diplomacy in the long eighteenth century. Analysing the rich archival
material conserved in the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs – series Mémoires et
documents, Correspondance politique – as well as the Danish National Archives, or
Rigsarkivet, the project aims at the construction of a rich narrative of multiple uses
of the law of the sea as an argumentative political-legal framework to express state
and private interest. By a close reading of largely unexplored sources, the project
contributes to the broader turn to state practice in the history of international law, a
booming field of interdisciplinary research.