What is a rule of law society, and why does this matter? Does an international community actually exist and, if not, how might it be created? Events of recent times suggest that such matters are not as undisputed as we may have once thought. The war in Ukraine, successive coups in the Sahel and an almost paralysed UN Security Council (to give just three examples) indicate that the world remains some distance from having (at both the municipal and international level) a rules-based order.

Addressing these and other important questions, Professor Tim Potier has written the first in a series of three books, “International Law at a Crossroads”. These three books have, according to the author, been inspired and influenced by the work of Locke, Rousseau and Rawls. “International Law at a Crossroads” introduces two new concepts. First, in municipal law terms, the “justification for society”. Second, principally in international law terms (but of relevance within a municipal legal setting, also) the “admittance of right and responsibility”. These two concepts are central to what an understanding of a rule of law society and an international community should be. The book also evaluates familiar terms such as justice in a new way; emphasises the importance of equity; and, claims to have settled (finally) the historic struggle between natural lawyers and legal positivists.

This event will be interesting (particularly, but not exclusively) to international lawyers, constitutional lawyers and legal theorists. The feedback received will be helpful to the author who is currently preparing the second book (in the series), as well as for his future preparation of the third.

Tim Potier is a Senior Fellow in the Center for International Law and Governance at the Fletcher School. He was (full) Professor of International Law at the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations for five years, until 2022. He was living in Moscow at the start of the current war in Ukraine. He left the country one month later and resigned his position at MGIMO in the summer of 2022. In 2023, he finished writing the book titled: “International Law at a Crossroads”, which forms the backdrop for this event. He is also preparing (with Brill) the second revised edition of his earlier book on the conflicts in the south Caucasus and hopes, eventually, to complete his book on Roman Succession Law (which he has been writing for five years).