International Legal Order in the Light of Modern Civilizational Challenges

Denysov V. N. International Legal Order in the Light of Modern Civilizational Challenges

The article is devoted to the analysis of modern international relations characterised by the functioning of international society with the relevant legal order based on the general principles of international law, demonstrating on the international level the sociological relationship between society and law. The author demonstrates the role of the civilizational factor in the history of international relations as a determinant in the struggle between the powerful states for the global hegemony. Civilizational struggle was common to the Ancient Rome, colonial era of the modern times, the period before the First and the Second World War, the «cold war» period. The civilizational struggle is also sharpening nowadays provoked by the collapse of the USSR and disrupting of the balance between the world powers.

The author points that today`s chaos in international relations is not spontaneous, but completely deliberate and still controlled process emanating from the civilizational struggle for the global hegemony. Ukraine has become one of its victims, which has happened to be on the bottom rungs of the European and world historical process without any idea of where to go and what to do, due to, nearly sudden by historical standards, renounce of its own civilizational values.

Modern international relations are determined by the claims for the exceptional civilizational mission for the West leaded by the USA, which provokes chaos in international relations resulting in the comedown of international law. Many representatives of the western international law doctrine testify to the accelerating collapse of international law. Thus, international law is turned into the mere legal technique, «instrumental» or «procedural structure».

This approach is an expression of positivism founded by Descartes and Hobbs (epistemological positivism). This approach supposes that the universal objective social process (common interest of peoples) is substituted by the unilateral social process (particular interest) separated from international law grounded in the common legal sense of peoples. International law is confined to legal positivism burdened by general positivism defined by the logics and values of liberal concept of the political order in the globalised world. Meanwhile the diversity of the world, consisting in cultural and historical values of the main human civilizations, is ignored. As a result the Western civilization is exalted at the expense of other civilizations, though it is in the most severe social, mental and economic crisis ever since. Besides, legal positivism is considered to be one of the most constant defiers of the natural law claiming for the monopoly within the international law theory. It is also opposed to the traditional positivism which recognizes the states` consent within international society as a basis for adherence to and development of international law, new paradigm of the balance of powers, which should diminish civilizational struggle in the world and regain the international law its status within international society.

Key words: international legal order, international law, civilizational struggle, disruption of the world balance of powers, tendency for the establishment of the new paradigm of the balance of powers.

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