Good Medicine for Bad Politics? New Realism in the International Rule of Law

In: Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting, Band 112, S. 255-258

Abstract

When an international crisis erupts it is common to hear experts say
that the situation would be improved if all parties uphold their
international legal obligations. From the Syrian war to Burma's massacres to
Guantánamo torture, faithful compliance with the law of nations is often
prescribed as part of the cure for policies gone wrong. My work is motivated
by curiosity about how international law comes to be seen as a universal
good and its effects when invoked as "good medicine for bad policies."
Compliance with international law often appears in policy and scholarly
analyses like a magical machine that transforms hot disagreements about what
should be done into cool solutions that serve the interests of everyone. My
work examines this idea with a degree of skepticism and holds it up against
some empirical cases. I suggest a return to pragmatic realism regarding the
politics behind the international rule of law.