Self-Help in Time of Peace

Abstract

International law, whether customary or conventional, has been assumed to rest ultimately on moral or non-physical sanctions. In speaking of the “sanctity” of international agreements more often than of the “sanctions” upon which their effectiveness may depend, we have placed ultimate faith in the non-coercive means of giving effect to international law and international obligations. The practice of states, however, shows a striking number of instances in which material self-help sanctions have been exercised in time of peace to give effect to international rights.