ABSTRACT
Why do states comply with international law? In the context of international security affairs, the question must be asked again taking into account the transformation of two key state practices: the international legitimation of the use of force, and the decision-making process in the war-making apparatus of the state. Legitimation has become progressively legalized, while decision making has become increasingly lawyerized. In order to understand the relationship between international law and state behavior in the contemporary world, it is necessary to rethink the concept of international law compliance, taking seriously the notion that an action can only become compatible with international law through a process of discursive construction. Both the legalization of legitimation and the lawyerization of decision making have a crucial impact on the discursive construction of the use of force, and thus on the behavioral relevance of international law in world politics.
