International Law and Power Politics: On Koskenniemi’s Perceptions of Justice

Martti Koskenniemi wrote ‘Perceptions of Justice’ against the backdrop of the 2003 Iraq War. The piece draws a stark distinction between American and European conceptions of justice – and approaches to international law. Over twenty years later, his distinction might still (or again) resonate. This retrospective analyses it in light of his other work and more contemporary events, arguing that it is a mix of misguided and confused. The United States and Europe have for decades, if not centuries, been profoundly entwined; each has significantly shaped and been shaped by its relationship with the other. The urgent question now is not what our distinct, essential characteristics might be but how we will redefine ourselves going forward, given the enormous challenges that we both, and the world more generally, confront. We are unlikely to make much progress on this question so long as we imagine, as Koskenniemi and the U. S. Trump Administration both seem to do, that if law does not constrain power, it must just be the sieve through which power runs.