ABSTRACT
The use of State violence as either a means of external aggression or internal control has been a hallmark of the Middle East. Thus, until Middle East States gained their independence, cases of judicial settlement or arbitration which transpired regarding the region took place within the context of European colonialism and were the purview of colonial States. As Middle East States rid themselves of the yoke of colonialism, dispute settlement by legal means went through a transition phase whereby cases often involved the former colonial master and the newly independent State. Since the end of this period, Middle East States have quietly been using judicial settlement and arbitration as a tool of statecraft. While advocating pacific means of dispute settlement in seeking to breath life into the legitimacy of international law, it should be emphasised that the legitimacy of the law in the Middle East must be found beyond the limits of the legal order—in the realm of international relations.
