ABSTRACT
International law by its nature extends today to practically all the domains of social life, not only at the international but also at the internal level. This chapter discusses that international law has its own, independent and highly important functions. Once laid down, the legal obligations of states becomes a general framework and a legal basis for their standpoint, as well as a criterion to test the legality of their concrete actions in intergovernmental relations and in the international community as a whole. The substance of international law changes as the interdependence of states develops, and as the balance of political forces alters. The exceptionally destructive nature of the new types of armaments has enabled the countries engaged in the arms race to claim that their armaments are not subject to the legal obligations assumed previously and to the existing rules of international law in general.
