Post by @kravietz@agora.echelon.pl

@kravietz@agora.echelon.pl

2026-01-04 05:30 UTC

@anarchy79 While Trump’s attitude to law isn’t my favourite, let’s not put the chronology from heads to heels. It was not Trump who invalidated international law – it was initially done by Putin in 2014 and 2022 while the Global South that is now so much outraged watched in silence or cheered. Putin explicitly stated many times that international law and UN is dead – so now he’s got the very ‘multipolar world’ he so much wanted. The thing about international law is that – in the absence of global enforcement, unlike national laws – it has a largely conventional and mutual character, That is, international law only works for the parties that do themselves recognise it. Russia, Venezuela, Belarus, North Korea, Hussein’s Iraq, Taliban Afghanistan, Assad’s Syria and Qaddafi’s Lebanon have for long routinely violated international law or, as North Korea or Russia since 2014 did, outright rejected the very idea of international law applying to them specifically, while moronically expecting that it will be respected towards them. This assumption was true for a while, as US and Europe as desperately as naively tried to stick to the international law, which allowed the above actors operate at a situation very beneficial for them - when they needed, they were doing whatever they liked, but then promptly returned to the ‘protection of international law’ when they needed it too. Gazprom’s arbitrary disconnections of gas flow to Europe for political reasons, while happily turning to EU courts were a perfect example of this practice. As I see the current situation, Trump simply took Putin’s words about ‘end of international laws’ seriously and did what the latter was doing for the last decade. Let’s see how he likes it, because I have an impression that Putin gained on the protection of international law much more than anyone else. @rberger

Replies (5)

@Justbeep@social.tchncs.de 2026-01-04 08:21

@kravietz @rberger @anarchy79 I disagree that it was Putin mostly or alone. It has a much longer history. ( It was, btw, Russian lawyers who pushed for stricter international after the 2nd world war. Rules that today also #Russia completely ignores. ) To be frank: US administrations also chose to ignore international law if it gave them no leverage. They also ignore international court rulings related to their troops ( not just since Trump - he simply also attacks those institutions! ) The very same is true for the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation - maybe even to a larger degree. Check, how many 'interventions' of either of them started with mandate of the #UN ... Probably an even number you can count without fingers.

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@rraggl@mastodon.nl 2026-01-04 08:21

@kravietz @rberger @anarchy79 It's all terribly unfair and regrettable when it happens far from home. Outrage only comes when things hit way closer to home...

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@osma@mas.to 2026-01-04 12:34

Let's say we accept your premise that flouting international law invalidates your own protections under it. In that case, is USA now unprotected? The same way as russia, or the same way as israel? And why is EU still concerned about international law as it relates to ex-russian financial assets or its shadow fleet sailing in European economic waters? @kravietz @rberger @anarchy79

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@blotosmetek@circumstances.run 2026-01-04 12:59

@kravietz @rberger @anarchy79 so, if I understand correctly, you advocate applying this approach to "the paradox of tolerance" to international law as well: https://ifunny.co/picture/the-paradox-of-tolerance-disappears-if-you-look-at-tolerance-aVVotFEMA

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@flaviusb@mastodon.social 2026-01-04 16:21

@kravietz @rberger @anarchy79 Are you psychotic? The US invaded Iraq blatantly on the basis of lies in order to steal oil, completely against international law, 22 years ago. Which is before Putin's illegal invasions. So Putin's illegal invasions can't have been the things that destroyed 'international law' and caused the Iraq War. The idea that the US was desperately and naively trying to stick to international law until those other bad guys broke it is sickening.

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