There Is No International Law in the Pure Sense, Only Power

For a long time there has been a recurring debate about whether international law truly exists, and even more fundamentally whether “law” itself is as solid as people assume. The uncomfortable conclusion is that in many circumstances there is no law in the pure sense, only power.… pic.twitter.com/n86StMPLBL

— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) March 5, 2026

… In openly despotic systems this is obvious. What surprised many people during the Covid period was how quickly the same dynamic appeared in countries that pride themselves on the rule of law.

It took very little to destabilize the system. Almost overnight people were locked in their homes, businesses were shuttered, and churches were closed, yet liquor stores and big box retailers stayed open. Vaccination mandates followed. None of this arose from the deliberate machinery that is supposed to define law. It flowed from whoever happened to hold authority at that moment, and many officials quickly discovered that they enjoyed exercising it.

The situation is even starker in the realm that calls itself international law. There the system is largely a political power contest dressed up in legal language. Consider the advisory opinion urging Britain to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, delivered under the leadership of a Chinese “judge.” That itself reduced the entire spectacle to a farce. But even when such bodies are not openly compromised, the rulings often amount to little more than political preferences written in legal prose. And when a decision happens to be technically sound, there is no mechanism to enforce it. The ruling that China has no legal claim to vast swaths of the South China Sea, including shoals belonging to the Philippines, illustrates the point perfectly. The decision exists on paper while the occupation continues in reality.

All of this underscores a broader truth. International order ultimately rests on power, not on courts or advisory opinions. Which is why the character of the dominant power matters enormously. Of course there have been plenty of mistakes and misadventures, but an international order anchored by American power is vastly preferable to one run by despotic regimes.