International Law (Ordinary) and IR, 2013 / 2014
Practice Essay Question
To be submitted to your tutor at tutorial #4 (week beginning Monday 28 October)
Critically discuss and evaluate the following statement:
"It is quite clear that an individual State cannot create international law. Nor are the acts or statements of a single State of any consequence to international law."
Word limit: 1,500 words
Agree and disagree
Complexity theory - smaller interstate networks are more effective at creating law than large internatioanl players - transnational networks and less power to the states means that due to the interaction between different invidiuals from various states would create inernational law rather than a single state.
-regulator networks - networks of financiers and bankers and transnational networks of regulators and transnational networks of goverment (made out of poeple from all sectors of work) - financial crisis involved the IMF, world bank etc. - G8/G20
a lot now goes beyond the state and a lot of internatioanl law is beginning to be created through movements like 'make poverty history' etc - look at complexity theory and networks.
Melbourne Journal of International Law
Targeted Killing in International Law
Power in international relationsIt is often argued that the structure of international law is such that it is not possible for an independent state to pass or create it itself; complexity theory is often referenced in these cases. Complexity theory, fundamentally, dictates that organisations and states are within a complex and dynamic system of interaction and relationship. The very nature of this shows that small interstate networks are more effective at creating international law than individual states themselves as the way in which the states work in a network means that the actions of a single state, separate from the rest of the network, will have little effect on regulating international conduct - the crux of international law. This...