International Law Lecture - Chapter 14 Flashcards
What is international law?
A system of principles and rules developed to regulate the conduct of independent world states.
What does international law build?
Builds cooperation and harmonization of common pursuits.
What does international law also set out?
Standards and procedures to minimize conflict.
What has the international law system done?
Evolved slowly over a long period of time.
The key concept for international law is what?
“State sovereignty”
What is state sovereignty?
The idea that every nation state has complete control over its territory, its population, and resources.
What does this idea guarantee?
A state’s freedom from interference by other states.
It is in the interest of nation-states to guard what?
Their sovereignty
There are also many reasons why what?
A nation-state might need to work with others and thereby give up some of its sovereignty
What are some examples of nations giving up some of their sovereignty?
Probably the most common example are treaties.
What is a treaty?
Simply an agreement between two or more nations that dictates expectations for the nations that sign on.
What are examples of treaties?
Nations often sign trade agreements that dictate how trade will work (e.g., free trade, tariffs). Nations may also sign much broader treaties that impact many areas (e.g., joining the EU).
What do all of these agreements ultimately do?
Reduce the ability of the state to do what they like, but states are willing to sign them as they offer something that the state wants.
In recent years, the world has seen what?
A couple of important shifts in international law
After World War II there was a strong interest in what?
Creating intra-governmental mechanisms to reduce the possibility of future conflict.
What did this include the creation of?
The United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and the international free-trade agreements (e.g. GATT the World Bank)
More recently, the acceleration of globalization has made what?
MNCs and NGOs major players on the world stage, which has tended to further reduce state sovereignty.
Today the world still struggles when it comes to addressing what?
International issues (e.g. whaling, climate change)
What has this highlighted?
The “problem of the commons” and led to questions about our current approach to international governance.
Critiques of the UN and the EU have what?
Raised questions about the tension between sovereignty and collective interests
Similarly, critiques of MNCs have drawn attention to what?
The impact of corporate behaviour on our lives and led many to wonder if the laws governing this form of organization should be revisited.
In the end, what can international law be thought of as?
“The rules of the game,” because changing the rules of a game is always contentious, but also quite possible.
What is this challenge convincing enough of?
People of the need for change
