The Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine: International Law and Power Politics or ‘What Happens Now’

Roman Kwiecień

doi:10.21697/2022.11.1.01

Published: 2022-06-30

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2022)

The Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine: International Law and Power Politics or ‘What Happens Now’

Roman Kwiecień

Polish Review of International and European Law

Section: Editorial

https://doi.org/10.21697/2022.11.1.01

Abstract

The article deals with the relationship between international law and power politics in the light of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The relationship between international law and politics is very close, even natural, since the principles and rules of international law primarily act in international relations, that is in a political reality. It is the problem of observance and violations of the legal principles and rules on the use of force that is the key point of reference for the discussion of this issue. The serious breach of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter by Russia, the crime of aggression and other alleged crimes committed during this international armed conflict incline the author to address some questions on the power and weakness of international law. The power of international law is severely tested when it comes to the unilateral use of force by states. The Russian aggression against Ukraine is arguably the most important such test since the end of World War II, at least in Europe. The author claims that such crises as the Russian aggression against Ukraine clearly prove that international law is what states want it to be.

Keywords:

aggression, armed attack, power politics, Russia, Ukraine

Download files

PDF

Citation rules

Kwiecień, R. (2022). The Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine: International Law and Power Politics or ‘What Happens Now’. Polish Review of International and European Law, 11(1), 9–21. https://doi.org/10.21697/2022.11.1.01

Cited by / Share

References

Bull, Hedley. The Anarchical Society. A Study of Order in World Politics. London: Macmillan, 1977. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24028-9_2
Google Scholar

Carr, Edward Hallet. Twenty Years’ Crisis 1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations, London: Macmillan, 2nd ed., 1946. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15208-7
Google Scholar

Crawford, James. Chance, Order, Change: The Course of International Law, The Hague: The Hague Academy of International Law, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004268098
Google Scholar

Franck, Thomas M. Who Killed Article 2(4)? Or: Changing Norms Governing the Use of Force by States. American Journal of International Law, no 64 (1970): 809-837. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2198919
Google Scholar

Franck, Thomas M. What Happens Now? The United Nations after Iraq, American Journal of International Law. No 97 (2003): 607 - 620. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3109846
Google Scholar

Goldsmith, Jack L., Posner, Eric A. The Limits of International Law, Oxford: OUP, 2005.
Google Scholar

Henkin, Louis. How Nations Behave. Law and Foreign Policy, New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970.
Google Scholar

Morgenthau, Hans. Politics among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, New York: Alfred Knopf, 2nd ed., 1954.
Google Scholar

Neff, Stephen C. Justice among Nations. A History of International Law, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674726543
Google Scholar

Slaughter, Anne-Marie. International Law and International Relations, Recueil des Cours Académie de Droit International de la Haye, 2000, vol. 285.
Google Scholar

Vagts, Detlev F. Hegemonic International Law, American Journal of International Law 95 (2001): 843-848. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2674630
Google Scholar

Allegations of Genocide Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation), Provisional Measures, Order of 16 March 2022.
Google Scholar

UN doc. A/RES/ES-11/L.1.
Google Scholar

Amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on the Definition of the Crime of Aggression, 2922 UNTS 199.
Google Scholar