Thomas Martin Franck (July 14, 1931 – May 27, 2009) was an American legal scholar and expert on
international law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
. Franck was the Murry and Ida Becker Professor of Law at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
and advised many nations on legal matters, even helping some to write their constitutions.
Early life and education
Franck was born on July 17, 1931, in Berlin, the son of a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family. In November 1938, his family fled
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and spent six months in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. After being denied
visas
Visa most commonly refers to:
* Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country
* Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Vi ...
to emigrate to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the Franck family obtained Canadian visas and moved to
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
.
Franck attended the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
, where he received his
B.A.
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
in 1952 and
Bachelor of Laws
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
in 1953.
He then began his teaching career as an assistant professor at the
University of Nebraska
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
in 1954. He further studied at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where he received a
Master of Laws
A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject.
In many jurisdi ...
(LL.M.) in 1954 and a
Doctor of Juridical Science
A Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD; ), or a Doctor of the Science of Law (JSD; ), is a research doctorate degree in law that is equivalent to a Ph.D. degree. In most countries, it is the most advanced law degree that can be earned.
Australia ...
(S.J.D.) in 1959.
Academic career
Franch joined the faculty of
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
in 1957 as an associate professor, becoming a full professor in 1962, and receiving a named chair, as the Murry and Ida Becker Professor of Law in 1988.
Franck published prolifically, as the author or co-author of 31 books. He also held various leadership positions and fellowships. In 1973 and 1982, he received
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
s. From 1998 to 2000, he served as the president of the
American Society of International Law
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, ...
,
and in 1965 he served as the first director of the Center for International Studies at NYU.
In addition to teaching at NYU, Franck taught as a visiting professor at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
,
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
and
York University
York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
. He was a member of the
Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute
The Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law was established in 2000 as the Institute for Global Legal Studies. It serves as a center for instruction and research in international and comparative law.
Backg ...
's International Council.
Franck's work on international law was well respected.
David Kennedy, of
Brown University
Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
, called Franck "the leading American scholar of international law".
Books
Franck's 31 books covered "a wide range of international issues,"
starting with his 1960 book ''Race and Nationalism: The Struggle for Power in Rhodesia-Nyasaland'' and ending with his 2002 book, ''Recourse to force : state action against threats and armed attacks''.
In ''Race and Nationalism: The Struggle for Power in Rhodesia-Nyasaland'', Franck studied the effect of nationalism on power struggles in Central Africa, based on research during his travels in
Rhodesia
Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
in 1957. Writing in ''
International Affairs
International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
'', R.C. Pratt decisively criticized the book, calling it "shrill, without sympathetic insight, historical perspective, or understanding" and leading African historian
Terence Ranger
Terence "Terry" Osborn Ranger (29 November 1929 – 3 January 2015) was a prominent British Africanist, best known as a historian of Zimbabwe. Part of the post-colonial generation of historians, his work spanned the pre- and post-Independence ...
wrote that the book was "original only when it is inaccurate."
Franck's next major book, ''East African Unity Through Law'', was published by
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
in 1965. The book discussed African
federalism
Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...
in depth, and was largely informed by Franck's own experiences as a constitutional consultant for
Zanzibar
Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
. In the book Franck showed the lack of success up to that time in efforts at transnational federations on the continent, arguing that this was largely the result of former colonial administrators who focused only on the problems of independence and neglected transnational issues. Franck was also critical of the
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire
The B ...
, and
Louis Blom-Cooper
Sir Louis Jacques Blom-Cooper (27 March 1926 – 19 September 2018) was an English author and lawyer specialising in public and administrative law.
Early life
Born in London, his parents were the grocer Alfred Blom-Cooper and Ellen Flesseman. ...
wrote in ''International Affairs'' that Franck's points on the Commonwealth were "mildly prophetic."
In 1968, Franck finished his next book, ''A Free Trade Association'', which he co-edited along with Edward Weisband. The book was based on the proceedings of a conference at NYU on a proposed free-trade association consisting of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, envisioned as an alternative to the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
. Franck wrote the first chapter, examining the political implications of such an arrangement and argued that the United States needed to stay engaged with Western Europe.
The same year, Franck edited a second book, ''Why Federations Fail'', which returned to many of the themes examined in ''East African Unity Through Law''. The book examined several cases of failed federation, including a chapter on East Africa by Franck, and concluded with another chapter by Franck on the common themes of federation failure. In his concluding chapter, Franck emphasized the uniqueness of each individual federation, and the difficulty of finding common points, but he went on to conclude that ideological commitment was one of the most important prerequisites for federation.
Franck completed a third book in 1968, ''The Structure of Impartiality''. In the book, Franck analyzed the absence of third-party, impartial decision makers in the international system. Franck wrote that "the failure of the international community to develop a system of third-party lawmaking compatible to that of the national community may well prove to be the fatal error of our civilization", and wrote of the many benefits that a third-party decision-making body would bring.
In 1971, Franck again collaborated with Edward Weisband on his next book, ''Word Politics: Verbal Strategy Among Superpowers''. The book analyzed the importance of "how rationalize their actions", arguing that the cover stories advanced by politicians to disguise acts of aggression had a profound, long-term effect on the international system. In particular, Franck and Weisband argued that the rationales advanced by the superpowers set a precedent for the action of both other major powers and for smaller and less powerful states who then felt it was justified to act as the major powers had. The book combined a theoretical framework for this process with case studies, showing how their theories had been at work in the previous several decades. The two showed, for example, that the United States's
Johnson Doctrine
The Johnson Doctrine, enunciated by President of the United States, United States president Lyndon B. Johnson after the country's intervention in the Dominican Republic in 1965, declared that domestic revolution in the Western Hemisphere would no ...
used to justify intervention in the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
in 1965 was almost identical to the
Brezhnev Doctrine used to justify the
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The in ...
three years later.
Robert Jervis
Robert Jervis (April 30, 1940 – December 9, 2021) was an American political scientist who was the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. Jervis was co-editor of the ...
, in a review of the book for ''
Public Opinion Quarterly
''Public Opinion Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press for the American Association for Public Opinion Research, covering communication studies, political science, current public opinion, and survey ...
'', presented a detailed critique of some of the claims in the book, arguing that it overstated the role of words and understated the role of actions. Nonetheless, he concluded that the book made "an important contribution" to scholarship and showed that "words matter much more than
realists believe."
Legacy
Decolonization during the 1950s and 1960 implicated a process of drafting constitutions for the former colonies as they evolved into independent nation states. Franck was involved in developing constitutions for several African nations which were emerging from British rule
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
and
Rhodesia
Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
, which is now known as
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
. He also worked on the constitution of
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
which encompassed the former
Tanganyika and
Zanzibar
Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
. He served as legal advisor to the African governments of
Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
,
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
and
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
; and in addition, he was a legal advisor to the governments of the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
and
El Salvador
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
.
Honors
*
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
, 1973 and 1982.
*
American Society of International Law
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, ...
, President, 1998-2000.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franck, Thomas
1931 births
2009 deaths
American legal writers
Emigrants from Nazi Germany
Immigrants to the United States
Presidents of the American Society of International Law
New York University faculty
University of British Columbia alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni
American Journal of International Law editors