THE POWER OF LAW OR THE LAW OF POWER?

Description

Can international law restrain the powerful in a world of shifting alliances and deepening inequality? Drawing on decades of diplomatic experience and interdisciplinary scholarship, Mustafa Osman Ismail Elamin examines the forces reshaping the international order, from Westphalian sovereignty to the uncertain transition towards multipolarity. Through cases spanning Sudan’s Al-Shifa factory, Iraq, Venezuela and Cuba, Gaza, and the US–Israel–Iran confrontation, he explores how military force, economic coercion and selective accountability challenge international law. The book advances a “Third Path” of lawful pluralism: an order grounded in responsible sovereignty, representative institutions, human dignity and meaningful participation by the Global South. Bringing Islamic ethical thought into dialogue with other moral traditions, it sets out an agenda for reforming global governance. It argues that a fairer future requires every centre of power to accept common rules, reciprocal restraint and accountability.