The Role of International Law in the Conduct of International Affairs

Abstract

A quarter of a century ago, Philip Jessup, surveying the reality of international law at the outbreak of the Second World War, concluded that impotent to restrain a great nation which has no decent respect for the opinion of mankind, failing in its severest test of serving as a substitute for war, international law plods on its way, followed automatically in routine affairs, invoked, flouted, codified, flouted again but yet again invoked.1 Twenty-five years later, the question of the place of international law in contemporary world affairs is no less urgent, but the structure of the international society has changed drastically. Three basic aspects of the postwar world distinguish it above all from any previous phase of human history. One is the development of modern science, technology and communications to a point where, for the first time in history, the pursuit of major wars can no longer be regarded as the ultimate instrument of national policy. For the major powers at least, the scale of swift and mutual destruction so far exceeds possible gains that the function of military preparedness has essentially become an insurance policy against the occurrence of a major war, rather than a ready instrument for the pursuit of such a war for the attainment of national objectives. The very magnitude of the power of destruction now at the disposal of the major states has tended to restrain them from engaging themselves directly and fully, and to shift the danger of war to the many medium and smaller states, which are less burdened by the responsibility of the power of nuclear destruction, and more inclined to pursue their national objectives by traditional methods. The danger that such, originally limited, wars may escalate into major conflagrations is one of the chief problems in the maintenance of peace and the organization of international security.