To What Scope Does International Law Impact the Way States Behave and Interact with Each Other and Why are International Institutions-Watchdogs of International Law- So Fundamental to the Liberals?

Abstract

“The collapse of good conscience and the absence of accountability and public scrutiny have led to crimes against humanity and violations of international law.” Nelson Mandela. It goes without saying that International law has a great impact on the way states behave and interact with each other and so it does ascertain whether there is any threat to world peace or not, a breach of that peace, or any act of aggression that may undermine and sabotage international order. Ludwig Quidde was prompt to submit that: “every success in limiting armaments is a sign that the will to achieve mutual understanding exists, and every such success thus supports the fight for international law and order.” And he added that, the security of which we speak is to be attained by the development of international law through an international organization based on the principles of law and justice. It is noncontroversial that international law plays a key role in determining and regulating the relations of states in the global community. This paper attempts to describe how the main actors in international relations- the states- act and interact in our global environment within the parameters of international laws. It goes to show the scope in which the relations among states are determined by international law. While the foreign policy of a state arguably remains key to the conduct of relations with other states, international law serves as the Do’s and Don’ts that govern the extent in which states behave and interact with each other. Meanwhile, international institutions are a principal focus of international relations scholars, to be precise, the liberals, commonly called idealist by E.H Carr. The writer also seeks to examine and scrutinize the prominences of International institutions- watchdogs of international laws- to the liberals and the ways in which it has been theorized. It develops a definition from the liberal perspective and attempt to provide a conceptual framework of liberal institutionalism. It is hoped that the concept of war, the spirit of cooperation and democracy, prospects for peace, international order and justice will be analyzed through liberal lenses.

Keywords: International, law, liberals, institutionalism, security, organization, peace, cooperation

DOI: 10.7176/IAGS/73-01

Publication date:June 30^th 2019