Review of chapter 6 of Hedley Bull\'s \'The Anarchial Society\'. PDF

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This is a summary of chapter 6 from Hedley Bull's The Anarchial society and discusses his take on whether or not violence plays a role in international politics and if it is a embedded aspect....

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(I) what is international law, and what bearing does it have on international behaviour? (ii) What is the role of international law In relation to international order? (iii) What is the role of international law in relation to international order in the special circumstances of the present time?

Chapter 6: International Law and International Order Hadley Bull defines international law as a body of rules. He rejects The argument that it is purely a social process, since we can reason Independently of empirical fact about the normative properties of International law. However, he recognizes that international law must Reflect social realities. Some theorists argue that international law is not truly law because it Is not applied by coercion, but Bull scorns this notion. Others propose That it does feature coercion in a decentralized form because states Can individually or in groups punish, economically and militarily, the Transgressors of international law. Bull dismisses this idea as fiction Because we cannot achieve global unanimity as to which side in a dispute Are the lawbreakers and which the victims. A competing notion is that Law is defined not by coercion but by primary rules or strictures on Behaviour and by secondary rules -- rules about rules -- that govern the Recognition and adjudication of the primary rules. The weakness of this Argument is that international law consists solely of primary rules, With no accepted standard for recognition and adjudication. Bull contends that international law must be understood as law rather Than morality or etiquette because it is practiced as such by lawyers And governments, using the same language and institutional structures As municipal law. He affirms that international law has efficacy -- that It is not merely formulated but subsequently observed -- even though its Rules are occasionally broken. States habitually obey international law, Judging that it is in their best interest to do so, and make excuses when They violate it. International law contributes to the international order By organizing mankind into a society of sovereign states, by regulating The relations between these states, and by encouraging compliance with This social system. International law must reflect the ways in which states naturally deal With one another, and sometimes it clashes with reasonable political Considerations such as the need to maintain a balance of power. In Modern times, international law has been changing from rules governing States to ones affecting individuals and organizations, and from purely Strategic matters to economic and environmental ones. International law Increasingly derives its legitimacy not from unanimous consent but from Majority consensus, and international lawyers are now dynamically forming The rules rather than adhering to static interpretation....