International law is the law that governs relations between states. It is also the law thatgoverns
relations between states and international organisations as well as, between international
organisations.
EVOLUTION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND WIDELY PERVASIVE EUROCENTRIC
APPROACH
The evolution of international law has been claimed to be owed to the Western legal players. It
is because of this belief that the historical evolution of international law is anintegral part of the
phenomenon of state formation. This process owed its influence to the conditions that started
to prevail towards the end of the 1500s in parts of Europe and which account for what is
usually referred to as the Eurocentric nature of „early‟ international law.
The appearance of international relations thus coincided with the rise of several sovereign
states as they entered into external relations with one another or when they sought the
formation of alliances between themselves for the protection of their own orcollective interests.
The period from 1500 to 1648
This period is known for the emergence of modern Europe and was characterised by vigorous
economic expansion, followed by social, political and cultural transformations.After two
centuries of decline, most areas in Europe now experienced an expansion in population growth
with commercial activities becoming stronger and more closeknit within Europe. Geographic
discoveries and expansion helped integrate Europe into a kind of world economic system.
This period saw the emergence of Westphalian model. This is an international order
consisting mainly or exclusively of independent sovereign States which exercised
untrammeled authority within their respective territories and freely coordinated their
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, mutual relations in accordance with their perceived self-interest on the basis of equality.It is a
model which upholds state sovereignty and its major role in being a role player in international
law. The sovereign equality of states and respect for their independence, ideas that developed
between this period are still part of the fundamental principles of international law, and are
enshrined in the UN Charter.
The period from 1648 to 1815
This event, described as the „most important event in modern history‟, called into beinga new
form of state referred to as the nation state. It was based on a set of rules that were entirely
different from those applicable in the colonial motherland at the time that the colonial émigrés
started to settle in the new world. What emerged here was the concept of the nation as a
political entity that was a voluntary association of a people under a common set of laws and
represented by the same government. Connected to this historical notion of state formation
were the aspirations of peoples or nations to independent statehood in the political and legal
sense of the word. This led to the ofteninterchangeable use of concepts such as „nation‟ and
„state‟ in international law and in international relations.
The developments in this section provided the foundation for the establishment of a new
international order based on a European balance of power. International law became the preserve
of the European Christian states. Therefore, by the end of this epoch the new international order
reflected European values. Access to this order by foreign states and overseas possessions was
possible only with the consent of the Western powers and on conditions determined by them.
The nineteenth century was also the age of the European conferences between the major powers.
These contributed significantly to the development of rules governing thewaging of war and the
settlement of disputes. Through a network of international relations, the application of
international law principles expanded and necessitated the academic study of state practice at
institutions of higher learning.
The period from 1815 to 1914
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