Taking into account the new circumstances and change in the previously dominant world order, which is slowly but surely sliding towards multipolarity, it is necessary to restore a system of clear and solid legal norms based on the previously existing legal order, writes Goran Petronijević, President of the Center for the Restoration of International Law (Serbia).
Law as a system of norms and rules is a phenomenon that develops in parallel with the organised human society. With the development of modern civilisation, within the framework of which we see enhanced communication among international subjects, it becomes necessary to adopt rules that govern our relationships. The task of regulating relations between international legal entities (states) was introduced to reduce the possibility of conflict. International law was also faced with the task of uniting in one system the multifaceted stratification of the international community, rich and poor, large and small, militarily strong and weak. Thus, the rules of international relations actually protect the rights of the small, the poor and the weak, making their existence and functioning within the international community sustainable.
With the emergence of the liberal-globalist system on the historical stage in the 1970s, a crisis of international law arises, and with its development into neoliberal globalism in the 1990s, a complete collapse occurs. These processes coincided with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union as one of the world’s largest powers. Neoliberal globalism, of which the United States was the main exponent, aggressively sought to rule the world. The assertion of the monopoly position of the United States in international relations and the emergence, first of all, of world monopolarity led to the complete collapse of the already-shaken international legal order. With the collapse of the bipolar system, the legal mechanisms that made it possible to restore the international legal order after World War II were destroyed. This violation of international law caused a domino effect in national legal systems around the world. As a result of the overthrow of generally accepted legal norms, in a unipolar globalist system special legal norms were created that imposed and served to realise the interests of only one power. The globalist system, governing only from one centre, does not tolerate freedom of thought, the rights of others, respect for various ideas and traditions, and respect for legal norms. The bearer of monopolarity is aware of its own capabilities and the capabilities of its power, therefore the replacement of rights with force arises.
The second decade of the 21st century is characterised by the revival of some countries that are returning to the international political arena. Organisations of states and regions are emerging, the purpose of which is, first of all, to suppress the negative influence of the neoliberal globalist monopoly, especially through their own prosperity: the Russian Federation and China as world powers, and then a large number of regional powers such as Iran, Turkey, Brazil, completely violated the former monopolarity. Awareness of the need to strengthen the sovereignty of states that have been destroyed over the past period gives rise to a new world ideology of sovereignty, which is slowly but surely replacing globalism. Taking into account the new circumstances and change in the previously dominant world order, which is slowly but surely sliding towards multipolarity, it is necessary to restore a system of clear and solid legal norms based on the previously existing legal order. The existing UN mechanism is a good basis for updating such a legal order that will regulate relations between sovereign states or communities of states.
Preventing the restoration of world law and order inevitably leads to a new world conflicts, the consequences of which cannot be foreseen.
