International Law in, and as, Crisis

International law emerges most visibly in moments of catastrophe – war, mass violence, humanitarian breakdown – when it is called upon to restrain power, assign responsibility, and promise a horizon of order. Crisis has never been external to international law; it has been its condition of existence. Yet today, something more troubling is underway. International law is not only responding to crisis; it is itself in crisis. But its crisis did not begin in Gaza, Ukraine, or Washington. Its roots run far deeper. What is needed now is an international law from below.