International Law PDF

Key terms Realism; offensive and defensive. Liberalism. Constructivism Sovereignty Four main sources of law Soft law Autonomy Game theory in law: No global government, what do we do? Monist Dualist Subjects of internat...

Key terms Realism; offensive and defensive. Liberalism. Constructivism Sovereignty Four main sources of law Soft law Autonomy Game theory in law: No global government, what do we do? Monist Dualist Subjects of international law; states, nations, individuals, etc. Horizontal enforcement Treaties: multilateral, bilateral. Why treaties. United Nations Unipolar, bipolar, multipolar Goals of the state: - Security, stability and prosperity. What is the point of international law when it can’t directly enforce? - Created by states to control states; even though there is not body capable of unilateral prosecuting, outcomes can be controlled. (predictability) - Customary law provides unwritten guidelines on how to interact with other parties. - International law operates through horizontal enforcement,which works because the objective is different. - Purpose of IL is to influence and change state behavior, to help maintain international stability and order. - Instead of deterrence, IL aims to change how states interact altogether and ensure that the interactions meet certain standards (they assume states are going to have conflict, so they don’t bother punishing them).  - IL gains its effectiveness from consensus; general practice standards turn into norms which are then expected for states to follow. Liberal international order: The dominant state is a liberal democracy; unipolar with a liberal hegemon. o The dominant state tries to remake the world in its own image. o Integrate states into institutions of your making. Ex. U.S. post-cold war cannot be said that there is one now, current order is multipolar. o As the state builds the system, certain outcomes are guaranteed that are in that states favour. Liberalism: - Fundamentally, the state is to address its citizens as equal individuals; protecting individuals to live and act as they please. - Harm principle do not harm those who have not harmed you; do not impose things upon citizens and others. - The international system creates opportunity for cooperation and conflict, it’s up to states in the international system to take advantage of this or not. - How do we set up institutions that can reign other states in before they cause issues—UN and collective security efforts. - Stresses that cooperation is the best way to achieve state goals. o Embedded liberalism: Ideas of liberalism are baked into the system. Limited and accountable power-horizontal accountability. o Liberal intuitionalism: Back to the idea of international liberal order, liberal hegemon constructs international institutions that promote and spread liberalism. These promoted values are interdependence, which creates possibility to positive-sum games of cooperation and mutual benefit.  Tries to overcome security dilemma through international intuitions. Whereas realists seek power, liberalism seeks to maintain security by interlocking everyone in a system of horizontal enforcement. Constructivism: - Constructivists see the world as something we build as we relate to each other. - We need to agree upon things for them to exist. ▪ If we all agreed to think that the U.S. doesn’t exist, it no longer exists. - Need to agree upon ideas that there are processes for which we should follow. ▪ Question they might ask is what made people think there were states in the 1600s? Game theory in law and prisoner dilemma: - You can make decisions that benefit you but negatively affects another party, but if you are going to have to deal with that party in the future, the best option is to cooperate. - When you harm the other party, they will harm you back. - When you choose to cooperate, you are maximizing the best outcome instead of taking turns harming each other. (prosperity) Sources of international law: - International custom or customary law - General principles - Judicial decisions - International treaties Customary law: - Essentially just unspoken rules that should always be followed even when not specifically stated. - Should be generally practiced to be considered customary law, from this precedent comes legal obligation.  o Examples include diplomatic immunity, prohibition of slavery, not committing genocide, etc. General principles of law: - Actual rules that are so broad that they can be called principles. - They come from multiple legal settings but are open ended in nature. - Essentially are just common practices to carry out when applying international law. Actors in international law: - States have legal personality, meaning they can sign treaties, but they must first possess the following qualifications. ▪ A permanent population ▪ A defined territory ▪ Government, and ▪ A capacity to enter relations with other states. - Int organizations: They are formed by states, so they would be a part of the country. - Nations: they are groups of people tied together by some common linkage of identity. o Nations can cross national boundaries, some of the members of this nation might be in another territory. Dualist: sees international law and domestic law as independent. ▪ Mutually exclusive and cannot come into contact. Monist: International law is part of domestic law, but superior to it. ▪ Domestic law comes from international law. United Nations: - The United Nations is not a body with binding law-making powers. - State must consent to be under UN jurisdiction. o Begging the question of why we have the United Nations? - Predictability and Security; states will waive a certain level of autonomy to ensure other states are limited in their actions.  - The UN security council can get involved in conflicts, but the five permanent members can veto any decisions to intervene in said conflicts. o These permanent members are hegemons; thus, they have interests in these conflicts, meaning that almost all conflicts that demand intervention will get vetoed due to a permanent members interest. Horizontal enforcement: - People enforce legal norms and obligations Polar: - Multipolar is when there are multiple hegemons within the current world. - Bipolar: There are two hegemons. - Unipolar: There is only one. Regimes: - Regimes are the principles, norms, rules, and decision-making process that converge to make a uniform way of doing things. ▪ Suboptimal outcomes come from independent decision making, so centralizing a way of doing things leads to efficiency. International institutions: - An arrangement, or organization that coordinates different actors in the international system. ▪ They are constructed by powerful states for specific purposes. Structural realism: - Argues that the nature of the international structure is defined by anarchy, and because it is defined by anarchy, the most important factor in international is power. - International order is decentralized, meaning there is no formal authority—Anarchic. - No natural harmony of interests in the world, people will do what they believe to best for them. (maximize security incase their best interest involves doing you harm)  - Only just war is one that promotes national interest—prosperity, stability and security. - There are two sects of structural realism, defensive and offensive. - Dislike Interdependence, very pessimistic about the action’s others. (Assumes the worst) ▪ Question a realist might ask is what is the best wat for state to maximize security? Defensive realism: - Argues that the anarchic nature of the world incentivises moderate defensive strategies to attain security. - Asserts that aggressive expansions lead to other states banding together to punish you states overextension, so aggressive strategies are pointless. - Offensive realism: - The best way to ensure security among anarchy is maximizing your share of power through aggressive foreign policy. - Seeks to become hegemon. Treaties: - Agreements between states that is in written form, treaties must be mutually beneficial for them to get realistically signed, because of this, interests must be balanced. - Solves a common issue or streamlines a process. (predictability and efficiency) - Treaties come from a treaty outlining treaties, meaning that international law is ultimately derived from customary law—being commonly agreed upon rules that are in best interest. - Treaties are enforced by horizontal enforcement, meaning other states Jurisdiction: - Legal prerogative to exercise powers over a person, property or event. Economics in international law: Legal personality: - Being that is subject of the law, meaning it can enter legal relations, and it has legal rights and duties. ▪ Currently, states, international orgs, individuals and companies have personality. Extra information— Order: an organized group of international institutions that help governed the interactions among the member states. o Orders can help member states deal with non-members, because an order does not necessarily include every country in the world. o They are created by great powers. ▪ Ex. The United Nations.