International Politics: International Law and Global Justice

 International Politics: International Law and Global Justice


I think the Russia-Ukraine War is an ongoing current event that discusses the topic of international politics in multiple ways. Since Russia first declared war on Ukraine by invading the state, politicians and citizens alike are aware that this is an illegal war being waged. Russia is in clear violation of the core obligation in the UN Charter that prohibits the “use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”  To make matters worse, the Russian military has clearly been guilty of committing war crimes throughout the country including targeting civilians. In addition to this, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, UN Security Council tried to pass a resolution deploring the Russian invasion and demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, but Russia vetoed it. 


This is why I find it confusing why not much more has been done to stop Russia from continuously acting against Ukraine and violating international laws and codes that were designed to prevent things such as the Russian Ukraine War in the first place. It is stated that contemporary international law demands that states respond to violations with “outcasting”, a term used by Scott Shapiro. This has been seen with sanctions that countries have placed on Russia which acts as economic punishment that is supposed to warn Russia of the actions they are doing. In addition to sanctions, Russian athletes have been barred from participating in international sporting events, banning Russian airplanes from European and US airspaces, and curtailing Russian media sources' access to European audiences. It seems like there is not much else international law enforcement organizations can do.


In the reading “Global Justice” published by the Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy, John Rawls’ Law of Peoples stood out to me when reading more about the Russia-Ukraine War. The question of “what principles should guide international action” when discussing the theory of global justice, which aims to “help us understand our world better and what our responsibilities are” was posed. Some of the principles he states were 1) the acknowledgment of people’s independence and equality, 2) people have the right to self-determination 3) and have the responsibility to conduct themselves in certain appropriate ways if they engage in warfare. Russia is in violation of more than three of the principles that I specially stated. If we have these codes, principles, and organizations in place to prevent countries from acting out against other countries, and they are not being respected, are there any real consequences to them? 

Comments

  1. Carter GoltermannApril 27, 2022 at 11:22 AM

    I find the points made in this blog post very interesting because as we continue to learn more about the Russia-Ukraine War I find myself asking the same questions. I wonder if there is a way to make this international system more effective at enforcing its rules. I think that the system in principle is arranged in a way to keep global order, but it falls short on how to actually enforce these rules. I therefore, also agree with your questioning of the effectiveness of "Global Justice." To further the scope we analyze past the Russia-Ukraine War, and into history as a whole, I think that we have seen this lack of real consequences when seeing how Global Justice is enforced. With that said, I am unsure if it is really possible to create an international system of law that is effective in all scenarios because no matter how the Global Justice structured it is very hard to actually be enforced equally and consistency because there are too many contributing opinions.

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  2. Evan GoldsteinApril 27, 2022 at 3:26 PM

    I also find many of the ideas presented in this blog to be very interesting. I agree with the idea that if there are no consequences to war crimes and other similar occurrences, then no country will ever respect the many laws and codes that outlaw them. I also think that punishing regular Russian citizens for the actions of their government not will not solve the issue of Russia invading Ukraine, but is also wrong.

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