Can Disputes be Resolved by Justice?

Author: Alfred P. Rubin
Publisher: Institute of International Relations
Date: May 1999 ISBN: 960-7943-03-1

The substantive rules of international law include the rules of many normative orders, and different normative orders prescribe different rules. To use the substantive rules of international law to help resolve disputes, it is helpful to dis-aggregate the different normative orders and examine the place of each order in the minds of the principal protagonists. Some examples are given, such as the role of divine law conceptions in the minds of antagonists in the Middle East, and it is suggested that some useful modification of strongly held views might be achieved if those involved would pose the inconsistencies of their opponents' views against those opponents' own order and accept that they cannot change the views of those whose opposition represents a consistent world view.