The Role of Natural Law in the Rise and Decline of European International Law

From the Publisher Legal theorists in the 19th century attempted to create European international law in place of universal international law in order to serve imperial ambitions. Their goal required a radical transformation, excising the natural law component of international law to leave only positive law. Positive law can be changed at will and was therefore used to eliminate hurdles to imperialism found in natural law, including precepts and principles of equality, universality, human dignity, and peace. Positive law was used to construct a concept of ‘civilizational hierarchy’, a two-tiered system in which the privileged class makes the law and imposes it on others. This truncated version of international law, however, is inauthentic and has finally given way in the 21st century to renewed interest in natural law as part of a complete explanation of law for a global community. Series: Oxford Handbook