Abstract: Known as a journalist or 'compiler', Jean Rousset de Missy (1682-1762) contributed on the to the world's first treaty collections, the Corps Universel Diplomatique du Droit des Gens (1726-1731, edited by Jean Dumont). This contribution focuses on Les Intérêts présens des puissances de l'Europe (1733), a two-volume work published to serve as a practical alternative to the 8 volumes in-f° of the Corps Universel. Rousset discusses treaty obligations undertaken by sovereign entities, and links them up with an analysis of their long-term geopolitical interests. I sketch the impact of the Peace Treaties of Utrecht (1713) on Rousset's work, and argue that his treatment of the matter gives a unique insight into argumentative strategies. Parties in a quarrel use arguments drawn from the law of nature, Roman law, canon law, customary law, feudal law or domestic law, and only seldom refer to law of nations doctrine. Rousset's synthesis at the end of every section...
