Is International Law Progressive

Authors

Cormac MacAmhlaigh

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The rise of authoritarian populism in recent years has raised the question of whether international law can be coopted for authoritarian purposes. Tom Ginsburg has recently argued for the rise of what he calls “authoritarian international law” which, he claims, is undermining the hitherto progressive ethos of international law since the foundation of the United Nations. This paper critically examines this category of authoritarian international law. Adopting a Dworkinian interpretive methodology to the question of the normativity of international law, it argues that a putative authoritarian international law is incompatible with the normativity of international law as currently understood. This is the case, the paper concludes, notwithstanding the types of practices to which Ginsburg refers to support his Authoritarian International Law thesis.

Recommended Citation

Cormac MacAmhlaigh, Is International Law Progressive, 72 Buff. L. Rev. (2024).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffalolawreview/vol72/iss5/11