The International Legal (Dis)order: Deleterious Effects of ‘Us and Them’ Politics, Zero-Sum Games, and Flagrancy of Power at Global Scale

Abstract

This article posits the international legal order has fundamentally broken down. A range of government, private, and academic sources depict a world where corporate power is ascendant, individual human rights are stagnant and under threat by both private and public institutions, and governments are disinterested in transparently and thoroughly performing their treaty obligations. Central to the systemic breakdown assertion is the interdependency of what may appear as discrete or independent areas of law – private and public, domestic and international, human rights, environmental – and sectors of scalable local, national, regional, and global economies. Idiosyncratic state conduct and uneven compliance with fundamentals of international law support the theme. Numerous examples from dozens of countries, and the United States in particular, illustrate a pluralistic status quo where wealthy and powerful actors disregard rule of law, instead relying on corrupt practices and antiquated rules of force. Recommendations call for paradigm shift and revised approach to contemporary issues at law.

Keywords: International law; rule of law; human rights; arms proliferation; corruption; environmental law

JEL Classification: International law, environmental law, human rights