ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the grown out of dissatisfaction with the idea, predominant among International Relations specialists, that their subject-matter can be studied satisfactorily within the narrow confine fine of" ethically neutral" empirical observations. It examines the applicability to international relations of the thesis of " natural necessity " with reference to the idea of the " minimum content of Natural Law," developed by H. L. A. Hart from the writings of Hobbes and Hume. The argument so far advanced on the normative foundation of the principle of pacta sunt servanda is in direct opposition to the general view of morality in international relations, held in accordance with the " realist" mode of thought about international politics. When a " realist" formulates his argument in such a way, he may mean to point out that sovereign States, unlike the individuals within a domestic society, have not developed a set of norms worthy of the title of international morality.
