What is its role in international relations?
What is the role of international law in international relations?
International law serves as an arbiter between the nations as they strive to one-up each other. Law provides "norms of permissible and impermissible behavior, sets a body of expectations, provides order, protects the status quo, and legitimates the use of force by a government to maintain order" (Mingst, 186). It keeps the Iraqs from invading the Kuwaits... again. International law establishes rules of conduct and order within the chaotic international stage.
In order for international law to be efficacious, all parties must consent upon the terms and agreements. This has been perhaps the biggest stumbling block to a true codicil of law to which all nations subscribe. There have been several attempts to create a global organization to establish and enforce super-national law. The establishment of the League of Nations was an attempt to establish an international body which would give a forum for maintaining the peace following World War I: "Until the League of Nations, international law was concerned with how states behaved during... war" (Kaufman, et.al, 50). The League was created to fulfill Woodrow Wilson's vision of a world body dedicated to international peace. "The League's charter, known as the Covenant, was approved as part of the Treaty of Versailles at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The mission, as stated in the Covenant, was 'to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security.' U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for his leadership in creating the League. Despite Wilson's efforts, the U.S. Congress refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles."
Though the League of Nations eventually failed, the promise of an organization of international laws and principles lives on in the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and other world-level associations to which multiple, if not all, nations subscribe.
Sources:
Kaufman, Daniel J., et al., Understanding International Relations: The Value of Alternative Lenses, Boston: McGraw Hill Custom Publishing, 2004.
Mingst, Karen A. Essentials of International Relations. 3rd Edition, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004.
"Research Guide to League of Nations Documents and Publications." Northwestern University Library: League of Nations, accessed 26 March 2006.