The Rule of Law in an Age of Power Politics: Superpower Strategies and International Legal Order

Munaza Khalid; Lin Shaowei

doi:10.59890/ijsr.v3i4.84

Authors

Munaza Khalid Southwest University of Political Science and Law
Lin Shaowei Southwest University of Political Science and Law

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59890/ijsr.v3i4.84

Keywords:

International Legal Order, Superpower Strategy, Rule of Law, Power Politics

Abstract

This article looks at the complex intersection of international law and power politics during the 21st century, with particular focus on how global superpowers tread around, shape, and sometimes dismantle the international legal framework for strategic reasons. While the rule of law is central to international management, it is continuously challenged by the unilateralism, selective compliance, and judicial activism of great powers such as the United States, China, and Russia. Through an analysis of seminal case studies, interventions, withdrawal from agreements, and geopolitical rivalry, the paper looks at how legal norms are being weaponized or driven to the periphery in the quest for power. The article argues that the international law system is not unraveling, but reorganizing under coercion, depicting a dynamic between legal order and geopolitical design.

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