Political Laws in International Relations

• Date: 01 September 1958
• Author: Ladis K.D. Kristof
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295801100311
• Published date: 01 September 1958
• Subject Matter: Articles

598

POLITICAL

LAWS

IN

INTERNATIONAL

RELATIONS

LADIS

K.

D.

KRISTOF*

University

of

Chicago

"Political

laws

do

not

enforce

themselves

auto-

matically;

men

must

take

trouble

to

obey

them."

R.

G.

Collingwood

*

The

author wishes

to

express

gratitude

to

Professor

Martin

Wight

of

the

London

School

of

Economics

for

having

read

critically

the

original

manuscript.

HE

SUEZ

CRISIS,

and

the

continuing

turmoil

in

the

Middle

East,

have

created

great

dissensions

among

the

Western

Allies.

On

the

JL

practical

level

of

policy-making

these

dissensions

have

their

origin

in

conflicting

national

interests

-

real

or

imagined.

Behind

these

concepts

of

national

interest

lay,

however,

certain

theoretical

concepts

of

international

relations.

The

political

scientist

is

sheltered

from

the

pressures

which

day

in,

day

out,

beset

foreign

policy

makers

and

at

the

same

time

is

not

well

enough

informed

about

behind-the-scene

maneuvers

to

pass

judgment

on

every

diplomatic

move.

Hence

this

theoretical

and

long-range

aspect

of

international

politics

is

for

him

the

more

rewarding

and

proper

subject

of

study.

In

the

persisting

Anglo-American

foreign

policy

controversy

some

British

critics

of

the

State

Department

have

accused

it

of

not

having

any

long-range

policy

at

all.

Others

have

contended

that

its

policies

are

haphazard.

Still

others

have

criticized

Mr.

Dulles

for

violating

the

fundamental

&dquo;laws&dquo;

which

govern

international

relations.

One

of

the

best-known

&dquo;laws&dquo;

of

international

relations

is

that

of

the

balance

of

power.

The

balance

of

power

is

affected

by

many

factors.

The

most

dynamic

factor

affecting

the

life

of

each

and

all

nations

is

that

of

popu-

lation

-

population

both

in

the

sense

of

a

multitude

of

individuals

and

of

a

mass.

Yet,

the

American

foreign

policy

makers

act

as

if

the

balancing

process

depended

primarily

on

the

availability

of

conventional

or

ultimate

weapons,

and

not

on

the

balance

among

the

peoples,

their

capabilities,

emo-

tions,

and

morale.

This

essay

is

an

attempt

to

illustrate

the

merits,

or

de-

merits,

of

obeying

or

overriding

the

&dquo;laws&dquo;

of

international

politics

by

analyzing

certain

relationships

between

the

balance

of

power

and

the

human

factor.

CATEGORIES

OF

LAWS

When

speaking

of

laws

it

is

necessary

to

make

the

fundamental

distinc-

tion

between

the

laws

of

the

physical

world

and

the

laws

of

the

human

(or

moral)

world.

The

physical

laws

are

categorical;

they

do

not

permit

exceptions

and

are

perfectly

objective.

We

derive

them

from

experience