|
||
Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Recent Entries
"Restorative Practices" Is Another Term For Race-Based Rules: The Rush Back To Segregation Is Picking Up Steam In Portland!
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-03-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel] Daily Tech News 3 December 2023 Saturday Overnight Open Thread (12/2/23) It's Here! Zappa Month!!! And Christmas Music Too!!! Saturday Evening Movie Thread: Holidays at the Extremes [moviegique] The Weekend Hobby Thread Ace of Spades Pet Thread, December 2 Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Dec. 2 Watching things burn The Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival Absent Friends
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« Opus the Infidel Penguin Follow Up |
Main
| Obvious: Dan Abrams Calls Out "War Slut" Christian Amanapour's Apologism For Islamic Terrorism »
August 28, 2007
International Law: What It Is, Why It Is Important, and Why We Should Stick To It, Part IGradually, everything that happens in the world is coming to be of interest everywhere in the world, and, gradually, thoughtful men and women everywhere are sitting in judgment upon the conduct of all nations. – Elihu Root, Senator, Secretary of War, Secretary of State Just a few years ago I snickered at the concept of international law. I thought to myself, “Law is nothing without guns to back it up; we all know that there’s no real way to enforce international law short of international conflict.” It was just ridiculous to expect that the rule of law would be obeyed by the Mugabes of the world. So what’s the point? My disdain for international law didn’t stop there. I mean, we all know how useful the U.N. has been, right? Can anyone say “Rwanda” or even “Kosovo?” “And don’t get me started on our ‘allies’ in Europe,” I said. International law is just a way for people Over There to hold us back from doing the things we know must be done. What do they have to do with me? They should just mind their own business. But my opinion slowly began to change. My prior thinking had focused almost exclusively on nations with criminal leaders, nations in conflict, and the U.N. In other words, my exposure to international law was not exactly filled with success stories. Part of the problem was that everyday experiences with international law don’t often make the news. As I learned more about the interactions of nations I saw that there was some good to be found. Trade, for example, has flourished under international law. Having a system of rules in place to take care of problems without having to renegotiate each time provides a sense of security. And not just in trade, but every time nations have contact with each other. Nations have benefited in criminal liability and jurisdiction issues have because of international law. What happens if a crime is committed onboard an airplane? Do the laws of the departure country or arrival country apply? Does your answer change depending on whose airspace the plane was in when the crime occurred? Does the nationality of the offender or the victim matter? All these questions are answered by international law; it’s not necessary for each country involved to negotiate to determine the answers. Having rules set in place becomes helpful when countries disagree; they provide a method of determining who is right. Resolving disputes isn’t the only purpose of international law, but it is a major one. Other purposes include setting up international organizations (e.g. INTERPOL, WTO, and the World Bank) and doing justice between state and non-state actors. Of course, you’re all familiar with the idea that international law can help keep the peace between nations. Despite some spectacular failures (can anyone say Kellogg-Briand?), international law has seen some success on this front by giving nations options other than the resort to force to resolve disputes. So I started changing my view of international law. Instead of thinking, “What is it good for?” I started thinking “How can we make it work better?” Along the way I had to get over the notion that “might always makes right.” I also had to deal with serious reservations about the morality and usefulness of the concept of sovereignty. We will discuss these issues later in the series. The first thing I’m going to do in Part 2 is discuss sources of international law. In Part 3 I will examine how rogue nations fit into the picture. I will go back to talking about issues of war and peace in Part 4. And in Part 5 I will present what I hope is a convincing argument for sticking to international law. I suspect that along the way, commenters will raise some other interesting topics, too. | Recent Comments
Crazy LenNeal's Buy Here Pay Here!:
"And, this week only, a huge rollback!*
*We do ..."
naturalfake: "[i][The lead character has just received some very ..." Crazy LenNeal's Buy Here Pay Here!: "What about that yellow striped Camero over there? ..." Just Some Guy: "Real life rears its annoying head. Thanks for t ..." BurtTC: "Buy them pens to go with the diaries. Buy a fancie ..." OrangeEnt: "The childrens home? Posted by: Reforger at Decemb ..." Buck Throckmorton: "You do a great job Perfessor. I get plenty of cor ..." BurtTC: "It'll be delicious in your new 2004 Dodge Durango! ..." [/b][/s][/i][/u]Oddbob: "[i]I would definitely prefer to read "presently" i ..." Dash my lace wigs!: "'Bye, Sharon. Good day to you! ..." Sock Monkey * Invictus Maneo : " I now wonder if that'll do, if the one who is get ..." Sharon(willow's apprentice): "Have a good day all. ..." Recent Entries
"Restorative Practices" Is Another Term For Race-Based Rules: The Rush Back To Segregation Is Picking Up Steam In Portland!
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-03-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel] Daily Tech News 3 December 2023 Saturday Overnight Open Thread (12/2/23) It's Here! Zappa Month!!! And Christmas Music Too!!! Saturday Evening Movie Thread: Holidays at the Extremes [moviegique] The Weekend Hobby Thread Ace of Spades Pet Thread, December 2 Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Dec. 2 Watching things burn The Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |