International Law in Crisis
Power politics and multipolar rivalry reshape the global order.
Nuestra América on the erosion of international law amid power politics and the rise of a multipolar world.
International law is undergoing a deep and structural crisis that can no longer be concealed behind diplomatic language or the formal rituals of multilateral organizations. What was once presented as a neutral framework for regulating relations between states has progressively transformed into a selective instrument—applied strictly to some and with absolute flexibility to others. This asymmetry has eroded its credibility and has turned the international system into a terrain increasingly governed by the balance of power rather than by shared norms.
The crisis is not essentially legal, but political. The problem does not lie in the absence of rules, but in their discretionary application. Fundamental principles such as sovereignty, non-intervention, the self-determination of peoples, and equality among states are invoked when it suits the dominant powers, yet ignored or reinterpreted when they obstruct strategic objectives. The result is an international order in which legality is subordinated to geopolitical convenience.
Unilateral sanctions, economic blockades, the non-recognition of governments, and the instrumentalization of courts and international organizations are clear expressions of this degradation. These practices—often contrary to both the spirit and the letter of international law—are normalized through moralizing narratives that seek to justify coercion as the defense of universal values. However, such rhetoric loses force when confronted with evident double standards and the absence of consequences for those who systematically violate the rules from positions of power.
In this context, countries subjected to constant pressure—such as Venezuela and other states of the Global South—have become testing grounds for how far international law can be stretched without breaking entirely. Every act of institutional non-recognition, every extraterritorial threat, every sanction imposed without a multilateral mandate weakens the system and reinforces the perception that the existing order does not protect states, but rather ranks them.
The emergence of a multipolar world has made this crisis even more visible. As new actors challenge Western hegemony, norms once presented as universal reveal their historical and situated character. International law, as conceived after the Second World War, no longer reflects the real balance of power nor the aspirations of the majority of humanity. This disconnect generates friction, mistrust, and a growing tendency to seek alternative frameworks of legitimacy.
Ultimately, the crisis of international law is a crisis of moral authority. As long as the powers that present themselves as guardians of the global order fail to comply with the very norms they claim to defend, the system loses its regulatory function and becomes just another field of dispute. Restoring its credibility does not come through more sanctions or more speeches, but through genuine respect for the principles it proclaims. Without this, international law risks ceasing to be law and becoming, simply, another instrument of power.
(Translated from the Spanish)
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