Does power have a fundamental role in creating international law?

Introduction

The role of power in the creation and evolution of international law has been a subject of considerable debate among scholars. This analysis synthesizes insights from multiple research papers to understand whether power fundamentally influences the development of international law.

Key Insights

Historical Perspective on Balance of Power and International Law:
- Earlier generations of jurists viewed the balance of power as integral to the system of international law or as a necessary precondition for its existence.
- Some legal observers historically saw the balance of power as an obstacle to a more moral international legal order.
Great Power Relations and International Law:
- Great power relations significantly affect the beginning, development, and practice of international law.
- The influence of powerful states is crucial in shaping the rules, codes, and customs that regulate international relations.
United States Hegemony and Customary International Law:
- The United States, as a sole superpower post-Cold War, plays a significant role in the evolution of contemporary international law.
- Despite its material power, the U.S. is less influential in the creation of customary legal norms than often presumed, due to the complex identity of the U.S. and changes in the understanding of customary international law.

Conclusion

Power, particularly the influence of great powers, has historically played and continues to play a fundamental role in the creation and evolution of international law. While the balance of power was once seen as essential or even obstructive to international law, contemporary perspectives highlight the significant but sometimes overestimated influence of powerful states like the United States in shaping international legal norms.

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Does power have a fundamental role in creating international law?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

The Balance of Power in International Law: A History of an Idea

The balance of power has been viewed as an integral part of international law by jurists from 1648 to 1914, but its relationship with law has varied opinions.

The Great Power and International Law

Great power relations influence the development and practice of international law, playing a crucial role in world society.

United States Hegemony and the Foundations of International Law: Powerful but unpersuasive? The role of the United States in the evolution of customary international law

The United States is a powerful superpower, but its current less influential role in the elaboration of customary legal norms is due to its complex identity and changes in our understanding of international law.

Power, Authority and International Investment Law

International investment law stabilizes investment behavior and outcomes by modulating power and authority, but modifications are needed to promote global well-being and minimize sovereignty concerns.

The Role of Power in International Law

International lawyers are ambivalent about power, recognizing its pervasive role in human affairs but also recognizing its potential for imbalance and reciprocity in international law.

Power and International Law

International law can constrain power, or it can reconfigure power, and its relationship with power is crucial for understanding international law's role in world affairs.

Power in Global Governance: The power of interpretive communities

Legal discourse in the Security Council demonstrates three forms of power: productive power, institutional power, and compulsory power, which can shape interactions among stakeholders and directly affect states' positions.

The Constitutional Power to Interpret International Law

The U.S. Constitution is supreme over international law, and the power to interpret, apply, enforce, or disregard international law is a shared U.S. constitutional power among the three branches of government, not a power of international bodies or tribunals.

Power in International Politics

This paper proposes a taxonomy of power, highlighting the importance of considering multiple conceptions to better understand global governance and American empire.

International Law as Ideology: Theorizing the Relationship between International Law and International Politics

International law has a significant role in international politics, but its relationship with power has been largely overlooked by realism.

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