ABSTRACT
The international order we have today is the result of the interactions between and among states, markets, and civil society as they respond to environmental circumstances (such as war, technological innovations, and/or social needs) throughout the twentieth century. The planners of the postwar order were dominated by Americans who approached the design of the international system similar to the way the Roosevelt administration went about reforming the US government through the New Deal. The principal architects of international order are states. And it was states that put together the original blueprint for the post-World War II international system—the Atlantic Charter of 1941. The planners of the postwar order were dominated by Americans who approached the design of the international system similar to the way the Roosevelt administration went about reforming the US government through the New Deal. The backbone of the international system's infrastructure is international law.
