Some Differences between International Law and International Ethics

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International law and international ethics, although seemingly different at first glance, have quite a few similarities when given further examination.
International law is based on positivism, what is observable and what is practiced. Like any system of laws, international law is meant to maintain order within the international system. International law is also meant to maintain a sense of justice. The attempts to meet these objectives are found in the international institutions such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. Unfortunately, there are times when order and justice come into conflict. The Cold War era, for example was highly ordered, but there were quite a few injustices observed at the time. In Kosovo, on the other hand, the UN Security Council could not maintain order and acted out of a sense of justice.
International Ethics are normative in nature, i.e. what should happen in the international system based on moral constructs and political theory. What a lot of traditions in international ethics attempt to do is provide a perspective of th...

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