contempary values of intr. law week 1 | Quizlet

IR and IL Interplay

A two-way relationship where International Law (IL) embodies theories from International Relations (IR), such as interpreting treaties through "object and purpose" to find the rationality behind the text.

Purpose of IR Theories

Often compared to a "lens" or "sunglasses," these theories attempt to explain, predict, or criticize reality and shape different legal arguments.

Liberalism in IL

The dominant perspective in the study of International Law, assuming that international organizations (IOs), courts, and compliance with legal findings truly matter.

Marxist/Post-colonial View of IL

A perspective that views current International Law as a problematic tool used by rich countries to subjugate poor nations and maintain an unjust status quo.

Realism in Foreign Policy

A viewpoint where security is achieved by enforcing one's will through force, often prioritizing "great power" competition over legal norms.

Constructivism

An IR perspective focusing on "norm entrepreneurs," such as President Zelensky, who act as individual agents of change.

The Great Unraveling

A concept by Oona Hathaway describing the potential collapse of the international legal order following the 2026 U.S. operation in Venezuela.

Legal Standard for Self-Defense

Under the UN Charter, force is only legal in response to an "armed attack"; drug trafficking or illegal seizures of power do not meet this standard.

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

A historical turning point where states first renounced war as a legal method for resolving disputes.

UN Charter (1945)

The central document of the global order, signed to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" by prohibiting the use of force.

Post-9/11 "Legal Guise"

The expansion of self-defense rights by the U.S. to include force against nonstate groups, creating a precedent for other nations to justify unilateral force.

Statistical Surge in Battle Deaths

While battle deaths averaged <15,000 annually (1989-2014), they surged to over 100,000 annually since 2014 due to conflicts in Ukraine, Ethiopia, and the Middle East.

Multilateralism

A system based on international institutions and rules that apply equally to all countries regardless of their size or power.

Multipolarity

An "oligopoly of power" where a few big nations make deals over the heads of smaller states, leading to increased conflict risk.

The Global West

A group of ~50 democratic, market-oriented states led by the U.S., including Europe, Japan, and Australia.

The Global East

A group of ~25 states led by China, including Russia and Iran, whose primary interest is reducing Western power.

The Global South as "Swing Vote"

A group of ~125 nations (e.g., India, Brazil) seeking a role that reflects their modern economic weight rather than being treated as proxies.

Values-Based Realism

Alexander Stubb's proposed framework combining commitment to universal values with a pragmatic respect for the diversity of other cultures.

Finlandization to NATO

Finland's shift from compromising values for survival during the Cold War to joining NATO in response to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Proposed UN Security Council Reforms

Recommendations to add five permanent members (from Africa, Asia, Latin America), abolish the veto, and suspend members who violate the Charter.

Yalta vs. Helsinki Models

Yalta (1945) represents big states dividing the world into spheres of influence; Helsinki (1975) represents a multilateral agreement on rules for all.

2025 National Security Strategy (U.S.)

A strategy prioritizing American sovereignty and strategic interests over multilateral norms and collective security.

Greenland Status

A semiautonomous territory of Denmark whose sovereignty is considered "settled law" but is being challenged by U.S. annexation interests.

Council of Europe

A 46-state organization built on the principle that law, not raw power, must guarantee individual rights and state equality.

Universality of Law

The principle that international law is either universal or meaningless; disregarding it in one region (like Greenland) erodes trust everywhere.

Rhetoric of Empire

The use of language to deny the reality of a state (e.g., Putin calling Ukrainians "tribes") as a preparation for destroying it.

Subject vs. Object

Imperial narratives where the center acts with purpose (Subject) and the periphery is treated merely as an instrument (Object).

Russian Memory Laws

Laws used to enforce official amnesia about the Soviet past while objectifying neighboring nations.

Kyiv vs. Moscow Succession

The historical fact that Kyiv was founded in the 6th or 7th century, roughly 500 years before Moscow.

Stalin's Internal Colonization

The exploitation of Ukraine's "black earth" to fund Soviet industrialization, which led to the Holodomor.

The Holodomor (1932-1933)

A man-made famine caused by Soviet policies that killed approximately four million Ukrainians.

Post-Colonial Ukraine

A "new" nation asserting itself through democratic solidarity and decentralized, multicultural resistance against extinction.

Ontological Anxiety

A state's deep-seated insecurity and obsession with great-power status, often leading to the use of violence to consolidate influence.

IR Euro-centrism

The historical tendency of IR scholars to ignore Eastern European perspectives, leading to shock at the strength of Ukrainian resistance.

Denial of Agency

An alliance between offensive realists and pacifists who view Ukraine merely as a "buffer zone" or a problem to be settled with Russia.

Secondary Colonial Difference

The treatment of Ukraine as a territory to be managed by others, a case often neglected by mainstream postcolonial studies.

Dynastic Colonization

A colonial model where local elites are assimilated into the empire and local language is stigmatized as "backward".

"Vladimir Il'ich Lenin's Ukraine"

Putin's historical claim that modern Ukraine was entirely created by Bolshevik Russia.

Decolonizing IR

The movement to learn from "small wars" and the perspectives of CEE states (like the Baltics) who see themselves as winners of the Cold War.

"Law of the Jungle"

A term describing a world where nations abandon legal orders in favor of transactional power and force.