Two readers challenged my earlier argument about Gaza from opposite directions. Their questions reveal a deeper problem: international law has courts, warrants and rules, but enforcement still depends heavily on states. Continue reading Gaza Exposed the West’s Moral Crisis. Now It Is Testing Whether the Rules Mean Anything
The Melian Ghost: Why Venezuela Signals the End of Global Law In 416 BC, the Athenians delivered an ultimatum to the neutral island of Melos: submit or be destroyed. When the Melians appealed to justice and the gods, the Athenians famously replied that the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. This cold calculation remains the most honest sentence ever uttered in diplomacy. Today, as we witness the aggressive reassertion of power over sovereignty, that ancient ghost has returned to haunt our modern corridors of power. The erosion of the rules-based international order is no … Continue reading Rules-Based International Order: Is the Melos Era Returning?
