Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Minnesota Journal of International Law

Abstract

International lawyers are both indebted to and at war with the state. Although we acknowledge, as we must, that states remain the primary actors in creating, interpreting, and enforcing international rules, we usually make this point in passing-as we try to puncture, evade, eclipse or overtake sovereignty. As Martti Koskenniemi's apology/utopia dialectic demonstrates, much of what we do attempts to reconcile the un-reconcilable.' This is epitomized by our efforts to portray pacta sunt servanda as a bridge between unilateralism and multilateralism. We explain that states do not relinquish, but rather, exercise their sovereignty when they enter into a treaty.

First Page

223

Volume

20

Publication Date

2011

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