Behind the headlines, a struggle between two opposing philosophical visions has dictated the course of international efforts to save the planet from global warming. The liberal cosmopolitanism of the great Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant has been up against the darker vision of an authoritarian global order of great power rivals developed by Carl Schmitt, ‘Crown Jurist of the Third Reich’.
I show how in recent times the influence of Schmitt’s once-taboo ideas has spread around the world—in Trump’s America, in Xi Jinping’s China, and in Europe with the rise of right-wing populism. The book maps how the actions of these three great powers have shaped the course of global climate negotiations.
The Kantian vision, best represented by the European Union, has common sense on its side—a threat to everyone solved only by collective action is ripe for universalist, cosmopolitan responses. In practice, UN agreements have triggered resistance from surging anti-globalist forces influenced by the Nazi jurist’s ideas, a world defined by friends and enemies and where weaker states submit to powerful ones.
As the Earth hurtles into a hot and perilous future, the role of Carl Schmitt should not be overlooked.
(Published by Polity Press, September 2026)
Endorsements
‘The global backlash against climate policy is fuelled by rising geopolitical discord, illiberalism, and economic nationalism. Hamilton’s powerful book provides an unflinching account of the darker intellectual forces that are undermining the liberal international order and threatening the collective fight against global warming.’
Robert Falkner, London School of Economics and Political Science
‘Not only does Hamilton compellingly cast international climate politics as mired in a clash of worldviews represented by Kant and Schmitt, he captures the wider rupture between incumbent liberal cosmopolitanism and the insurgent authoritarianism that has arisen to oppose it.’
Steve Vanderheiden, University of Colorado
