The Coerciveness of International Law

Abstract:     
This article shows that an important part of the deep structure of international law is its self-referential strategy of employing its own rules to protect its rules. International law tolerates a principled violation of its own rules when necessary to keep other rules from being broken. It extends a legal privilege to states to use coercion against any state that has selfishly attempted to transgress its international obligations. International law thus protects itself through the opportunistic deployment of its own rules.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 21

Keywords: Monism, Dualism, Consent, Domestication Theory, Soft Law, New Haven School, Exceptionalism

JEL Classification: K40, K33, K10

Accepted Paper Series