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5 Eur. J. Int'l L. 313 (1994)
International Law as Ideology: Theorizing the Relationship between International Law and International Politics

handle is hein.journals/eurint5 and id is 337 raw text is: International Law as Ideology: Theorizing the Relationship between International Law and International Politics Shirley V. Scott* Theorization of the relationship of international law to the broader political system of which it is a sub-system is of relevance to scholars of international law and international relations. The dominant post-war paradigm in international relations has been realism,1 which dismisses international law as being virtually irrelevant to matters of 'high' politics.2 The process of international politics is accounted for by the concept of power and international law is regarded as having no intrinsic significance.3 The retention of a power-law dichotomy has effectively blocked moves towards a more sophisticated conceptualization of the significance of international law to international politics. It is understandable that, as a group, international lawyers have perceived little to be gained from dialogue with proponents of realism and have remained sheltered behind legal positivism. The two disciplines have for the most part remained comfortably disengaged on the subject.4 And yet, international legal theorists have increasingly recognized their need for greater understanding of the politics of international law5 and stand to gain much * The University of Queensland, Australia. I Abbott, 'Modem International Relations Theory: A Prospectus for International Lawyers', 14 Yale J. Int'l L. (1989) 338. Keohane refers to realism as an interpretive framework. See R.O. Keohane, Neorealism and its Critics (1986) 7; while Gilpin considers it to be a philosophical disposition. Gilpin, 'The Richness of the Tradition of Political Realism', 38 International Organization (1984) 290. 2 F. Boyle, World Politics and International Law (1985) 6-7. 3 Boyle, 'The Irrelevance of International Law: the Schism between International Law and International Politics', 10 Calif West. Int'l L.J. (1980) 198. 4 See Abbott, supra note 1, at 336-338. 5 Regarding 'philosophical', 'humanistic' and 'scientific' as three kinds of sophistication that have existed in international law, Macdonald and Johnston comment that the late twentieth century appears to be characterized by a new approach that strives for political sophistication. Macdonald and Johnston, 'International Legal Theory: New Frontiers of the Discipline', in R.St.J. Macdonald and D.M. Johnston (eds), The Structure and Process of International Law: New Frontiers of the Discipline (1983) 4. 5 EJIL (1994) 313-325

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