Context

• Escalating geopolitical conflicts, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, tensions in West Asia, and controversial actions by major powers, have revived claims that international law is collapsing.
• Some scholars foresee a norm-free world, pointing to institutional withdrawals, unilateral military actions, and a perceived rupture in the global order.
• Despite mounting challenges, international law persists as an indispensable normative framework shaping state conduct and international cooperation.

The Prohibition on the Use of Force: Crisis or Collapse?

• A foundational pillar of modern international law is the prohibition on the threat or use of force under Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter.
• Recent violations have intensified doubts about its survival; however, repeated breaches do not signify legal extinction.
• During the Cold War, similar concerns emerged amid widespread armed conflicts.
• Wars in Afghanistan, the Falklands, the Gulf, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, and Libya severely strained the prohibition on force.
• Yet Article 2(4) endured as the central legal benchmark against which state conduct was judged. The persistence of this principle demonstrates that international law can be battered but not extinguished. 

Legal Justification and the Power of Normative Constraint

• The Role of Legal Argument in International Politics
  • The strength of international law lies partly in its capacity to compel states to justify their actions.
  • Legalisation creates expectations that public power must be exercised within recognised rules.
  • Historically, even dominant powers sought to frame military interventions within the doctrine of self-defence exception, expanding its interpretation to align actions with existing norms.
  • Such practices reveal the enduring force of legal justification.
  • The act of offering legal reasoning preserves space for debate, contestation, and normative accountability.
• A Qualitative Shift in the Present Moment
  • The contemporary challenge is not merely repeated violations but the declining effort to justify them.
  • Rising populist-authoritarianism has introduced a degree of brazenness in which legal reasoning is sometimes sidelined.
  • This erosion of deliberative engagement weakens the culture of compliance and threatens the expectation that power must answer to law.
  • Yet even this shift does not eliminate the system. It signals a struggle over interpretation and authority rather than a disappearance of norms.

Beyond the UN Charter: The Expanding Scope of International Law

• Over eight decades, the international community has developed dense legal regimes governing trade, investment, aviation, maritime resources, outer space, human rights regime, climate governance, and the control of chemical and biological weapons.
• This expansion reflects deep global interdependence. Legal frameworks underpin economic exchange, environmental protection, and technological cooperation.
• Agreements such as the High Seas Treaty and the Pandemic Agreement illustrate ongoing treaty-making process and sustained multilateral engagement.
• Trade negotiations between major economies further demonstrate reliance on structured legal commitments.
• International law’s vitality is evident not only in crisis management but also in its routine coordination of complex global systems.

The Judicialisation of International Relations

• Courts such as the International Criminal Court and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights exemplify the expanding architecture of international adjudication.
• These institutions embody the judicialisation of international relations, providing structured mechanisms for dispute resolution and individual accountability.
• Though compliance is uneven, their existence reinforces the principle of peaceful dispute resolution and strengthens the institutional architecture supporting global governance.

The Silent Functioning of International Law

• It enables goods to cross borders under predictable trade rules, secures civil aviation routes, regulates maritime passage, and facilitates communication networks.
• This silent operation of law sustains daily life and economic stability: by structuring expectations and reducing uncertainty, international law provides predictability and stability in a fragmented geopolitical environment.
• Its effectiveness is often invisible precisely because it functions smoothly. The absence of headlines in these areas signals not irrelevance but routine success.

Conclusion

• International law is undergoing one of its most challenging periods, particularly concerning the prohibition on force.
• The resilience of Article 2(4), the persistence of legal justification, the breadth of global regulatory regimes, and the proliferation of international courts all demonstrate enduring strength.
• International law remains a dynamic system shaped by contestation and adaptation. Its continued expansion across domains of trade, environment, health, and human rights affirms its structural importance.
• International law endures, not as a flawless order, but as a necessary foundation for global stability in an increasingly turbulent world.