Center for Transboundary Legal Development

Research on the increasing interrelatedness between legal systems, the diversity of actors which influence processes of law making, and the legal issues involved while working towards 'globalisation with a human face'.

1.3 Great powers and international society

Beyond State-Centric Law and Legal Doctrine. New Actors and Determinants.

Key words: international society; great powers

To what extent is the modern State system a system? What are (or were) the ideological and structural forces that held the system together? What has been the role of the 'international society' (from christianitas, respublica christiana, Europe, civilized nations to United Nations) and how did it function? This questions the role of the great powers in the formation and enforcement of the modern law of nations.