Developments in international law brought about by the end of the Cold War

Abstract

This study aims at capturing some of the most important developments that have taken place in the realm of international law, because of the end of the Cold War. The developments which I examine relate to international criminal justice, humanitarian intervention, the banning of landmines, and State sovereignty. All these four areas of international law have been major beneficiaries of the end of the Cold War. At a cursory glance at these areas of study one would immediately realise that they are all human-centred. Human dignity and its protection have been at an all time high in the post-Cold War era. International law like any other social science had to react to what mankind was asking of it, by right. In fact all four areas came under the limelight in different reaction processes. The development of international criminal justice was a reaction to the carnage that was taking place in the midst of Europe and in Africa, the debate on intervention was set rolling as never before as a reaction to NATO's intervention in Kosovo, landmines spurred the reaction of many NGOs to the cruelties they were witnessing in different areas across the globe, whilst sovereignty unavoidably featured in each of these processes. Whereas I do not mean to disesteem these reaction processes, they mustbe replaced by preventive ones. This study does not claim to be exhaustive, other important developments have taken place which are not examined here. Suffice it to mention the role of the United Nations in a post-Cold War world, and the fact that the UN Charter could finally breathe freely after nearly half a century of suffocating years. Not that these issues are of less importance, however, the growing international concern for the protection of human rights, compelled me to focus my study on the human dimension of international law. Therefore it's a situation of 'Not because I loved Caesar Jess but because I loved Rome More'. And with that bout of literature, I sincerely hope that these developments would not simply generate academic discussion, but will serve to strengthen the rule of international law.