The Other Death of International Law

Leiden Journal of International Law, Vol. 14, p. 3, 2001

33 Pages Posted: 4 Oct 2009 Last revised: 27 Oct 2009

See all articles by Ed Morgan

Ed Morgan

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law

Date Written: 2001

Abstract

The breakup of Yugoslavia presented a rare opportunity for international law to renew itself. This essay reflects on those events through the lens of several short stories by Jorge Luis Borges. The writings of Borges suggest themselves as a vehicle through which to examine legal developments such as secession, emergence of new sovereigns, and state recognition, for a number of reasons. Not the least of these is that, as John Updike has pointed out, “his stories have the close texture of argument...” The world of Borges’ work is a closed one, with its own internal logic and a fundamental detachment from the author’s actual surroundings. In this, it is reminiscent of international law’s notorious detachment from the social, and even the historical context of the sovereign states to which it traces its sources.

Keywords: international law, secession, sovereignty, recognition, Yugoslavia

Suggested Citation

Morgan, Ed, The Other Death of International Law (2001). Leiden Journal of International Law, Vol. 14, p. 3, 2001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1482077

Ed Morgan (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

78 and 84 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
80
Abstract Views
634
Rank
551,205
PlumX Metrics