Why international law is still the world’s best defence

Should we permit the foundations of international law to erode, the world would slip once more into anarchy and chaos.

Conceived in the long shadow of global devastation, the post-World War II order was constructed – imperfect yet purposeful – to shield humanity from a similar catastrophe.

In 1943, as the tides of battle in World War II began to turn in favour of the Allied powers, United States President Franklin D Roosevelt warned: “Unless the peace that follows recognises that the whole world is one neighbourhood and does justice to the whole human race, the germs of another world war will remain as a constant threat to mankind.”