Prolific author, speaker, and former St Edmund’s scholar and academic, Dr Victor Kattan, is celebrating the release of his fourth and fifth books: ‘Making Endless War: The Vietnam and Arab-Israeli Conflicts in the History of International Law’ and ‘The Breakup of India and Palestine: The Causes and Legacies of Partition’. His previous books about politics in the Middle East have attracted high praise for their clarity and scholarship, and he has also had articles published in several newspapers regarding topical international law issues.

Dr Kattan’s expertise encompasses the legal aspects of territorial disputes, the history of international law, including the law of the United Nations, international humanitarian law, and the use of force.

‘Making Endless War’, which is published by Michigan University Press and co-edited with Brian Cuddy, examines how the Vietnam and Arab-Israeli conflicts have been significant in the shaping, and attempted remaking, of international law on the use of force from 1945 to the present day.

‘The Breakup of India and Palestine’, which is published by Manchester University Press and co-edited with Amit Ranjan, is the first study of political and legal thinking about the partitions of India and Palestine in 1947.

An international lawyer, legal historian and Middle East expert, Dr Kattan is currently Assistant Professor of Public International Law in the School of Law at the University of Nottingham. Since he left St Edmund’s College in 1998, he has returned on a number of occasions to visit the school and share his expertise and experiences with current students and also came back for St Edmund’s Sunday. Dr Kattan joined St Edmund’s College from St Hugh’s Preparatory School. He was a student at the college from 1989-1998 where he was a member of Mayne House at St Hugh’s from 1989-1993 and a member of Poynter House at St Edmund’s from 1993-1998. In his time at the college, he was a prefect, deputy House captain (of Poynter) and House captain (of Mayne). [VK(1] 

Dr Kattan obtained his LL.B. from Brunel University London with Honours; his LL.M from the University of Leiden School of Law; and his PhD in International Law from the School of Law at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies - where he was awarded a scholarship from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. He is also the honoured recipient of numerous academic awards and grants, including an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant to complete a PhD, two postdoctoral awards at NUS Law, and the highly competitive Nottingham Research Fellowship.

Read an open-access copy of the book online. 

Find our more about‘The Breakup of India and Palestine.’