Republican Manifesto and Summary of Conclusions

Abstract

This volume has considered 20 important questions in international law from the perspective of the republican principles that support the international legal order. The purpose of this discussion has been neither to engage the numerous authors who have debated these questions in the past, nor to set out a complete elaboration of republican legal theory, but rather to explain in clear terms some basic implications of certain fundamental truths about law and justice that regulate most international legal obligations. States and individuals have a duty to obey and respect proposed international norms only to the extent that proposed norms respect the basic republican principles of international law. These chapters start from first principles to point out some obvious implications of the republican commitment to justice and the common good of all people. International law rests on republican foundations, and would not be just, binding, or interesting if it did not.