International Law: Torn between Coexistence, Cooperation and Globalization. General Conclusions

A comparison of the major trends of international law during the 1960s and the present time shows the consolidation in positive international law of the basic principles laid down in the UN Charter. There are nevertheless some very substantial differences between the time when the 'international community' placed greatest emphasis on the 'common heritage of mankind' and the time of globalization, the second posing new chaUenges to the sovereign state. It remains that the prohibition of force as set down in the Charter establishes the historical development of International law in the perspective of the specific categorical imperative defined by Kant's project of 'perpetual peace'. In this respect, it has become possible since 1945 to look at the development of International law from the viewpoint of progress.