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Cassese's International Law

Cassese's International Law (3rd edn)

Paola Gaeta, Jorge E. Viñuales, and Salvatore Zappalá
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date: 09 February 2025

p. 202. The Historical Evolution of the International Communitylocked

p. 202. The Historical Evolution of the International Communitylocked

  • Paola Gaeta, Paola GaetaProfessor of International Law, The Graduate Institute, Geneva
  • Jorge E. ViñualesJorge E. ViñualesHarold Samuel Professor of Law and Environmental Policy, University of Cambridge
  • , and Salvatore ZappalàSalvatore ZappalàProfessor of International Law, University of Catania

Abstract

This chapter traces the historical evolution of the international legal system, which is organized for analytical purposes in four major stages: from its gradual emergence (sixteenth–early seventeenth century) to the First World War; from the establishment of the League of Nations to the end of the Second World War (1919–1945); from the establishment of the United Nations to the end of the Cold War (1945–1989); and the last three decades since the end of the Cold War (1990–2020). The chapter emphasizes the European roots of international law but also the pressure it has faced since the 1960s to reflect the interests of developing and newly independent States. It also provides some basic historical elements and references to the growing literature on the history of international law, which are useful to understand the historical context of the material examined in subsequent chapters.

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