Professor Alexander Orakhelashvili comments on the role of international legal reasoning in the context of major crises such as the current war against Iran.
Over a long time and across many countries, many international lawyers have maintained the feeling of disciplinary insufficiency. Whether professing so expressly or believing so intuitively, many of them are of the view that, given that international law deals with realities of power, international legal reasoning cannot suitably be a pure legal reasoning and policy, political and ideological elements need to be incorporated into it. It is also often forgotten or overlooked that political and ideological instincts are more than often subjective, biased and parochial; they lead to overlooking not simply the merit of the legal argument, but often they also lead to overlooking the realities of power politics.
Professor of International Law
Profile of Birmingham Law School academic, Dr Alexander Orakhelashvili, Professor of International Law
