Remembering Peace in a Time of War:
Why International Law Matters More Than Ever
A Message of International Law and Peace from Tommy Koh
The wish above all other wishes is for peace. The opposite of peace is war. As some one who lived through the Second World War and the occupation of Singapore by Japan, I saw, firsthand, how destructive war is. I am therefore a champion of peace. I am also a champion of international law. Read on...
Commentary on Remembering Peace in a Time of War: Why International Law Matters More Than Ever by Patricia Galvão Teles
At the time the world’s attention is so focused on war and conflict, it is important to remember and think about peace. The history of humankind has been filled with war and conflict. Unfortunately, that is nothing new. What is new in the last 80 years, since the creation of the United Nations (UN) in 1945, is that the world is committed to a peace project. And it is why, 80 years after the UN’s formation and despite present circumstances, it is fundamental not to forget that. Read on ...
Peace and International Law
– Some TWAIL Reflections
by Antony Angie
This collection of essays illuminates the rich, complex, multi-dimensional, contradictory relationships between peace on one hand, and international law and relations on the other. The essay by Nilüfer Oral points to how even regimes that are not centrally focused on peace, such as the law of the sea, `the constitution of the oceans’, may be seen as an effort to reduce conflict—a conflict central to Grotius’s defence of `The Free Sea’. Elena Pribytkova suggests that the `right to peace’ should be given effect as an enforceable right. Read on ...
INTRODUCTORY POST
by Nilüfer Oral And Rashmi Raman
As the world watches missiles being hurled across the skies, bombs falling on hapless civilians, as the destruction of war becomes increasingly a common sight, it may seem odd to have a symposium on peace. Yet war, unfortunately, is more common than uncommon in the very long trajectory of human history. We can forget that in this same span of history, after war came peace and the challenge has been building a lasting peace. Read on...