In a message dated 3/12/00 4:33:28 AM Central Standard Time, random@qnet.com
writes:
> Heh heh heh- yeah, the problem with international law is, how do you
> enforce it? The key word is "force". <snip>
In a sense, all law has to be backed up by force in one way or another. The
question, though, is whether all of the force has to be concentrated in a
single institution or, as the West has come to realize, it is better to
disperse the rightful use of force among various different groups and power
centers. In this respect, the international regime is the ultimate
"polycentric legal system" and, in fact, there has been a developing trend
toward an enforceable international law. It's not universal and it's not
"unicentric" (fortunately), but I think there definitely HAS been progress in
international law in the last 200 years or so, and especially in the last 50
years.
> Cooperative agreements are for people who can cooperate, and sovereign
> governments have a poor track record for that.
Actually, the current period is one in which the international regime is more
peaceful and "legal" than at any previous time I can think of. Consider how
RARE cross-border military actions are now, compared to all previous periods
of human history. Europe has been at peace for 55 years - an incredible
record for that fractious bunch, in light of their past history. This has
been due in large part to the development of norms of conduct at many
different, interlocking levels, from multi-lateral regional agreements,
through inter-regional and bilateral arrangements, down to what may be most
important, a broadly-accepted, unwritten notion of civil conduct that has
served to deter the kind of nationalistic militarism that was the hallmark of
Western history for millennia before.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
ICQ # 61112550
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
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