ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the extent to which international law guides statesmen in making decisions. When discussing international law, the tendency is to focus on John Locke's first category because clearly the lack of an overarching international political authority immediately calls into question the possibility of an international public law. Emphasizing the difference between "law" and politics often implies a relative absence of political considerations at the domestic level. Because of the absence of centralized institutions, many applications of law at the international level are likely to have a much higher political content than those within states. The chapter clearly see the constitutive factor at work as a major component of contemporary international law in the number of intergovernmental international organizations (IGOs). Acting on the basis of an anonymous tip in the wake of the explosion that destroyed the Rainbow Warrior, New Zealand authorities detained a couple traveling on Swiss passports on the charge of violating immigration laws.
