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Chief-in-Editor  Prof. Badria A. Al-Awadi

Once again, laws, declarations, international norms, and mechanisms for resolving disputes by peaceful means are subject to a severe test, after the increasing frequency of fierce and destructive conflicts and wars in more than one place in the globe. Voices skeptical about the feasibility of these laws, or even their existence in the first place, have risen again, considering them merely rules set by the victors and beneficiaries of them, without finding them sufficiently binding, especially if these conflicts are tied to the interests of the major powers or the regional powers associated with them.
Although this legal debate prevailed for quite some time with regard to the nature of the rules of International Law and the extent of their obligation and their effects, benefiting from the continuation of wars and conflicts after World War II and the outbreak of the Cold War between the major powers, yet International Law, its institutions, texts and jurisprudence have witnessed a great boom in establishment, creation and development during the second half of the twentieth century, and its mechanisms were able to put out the flames of many conflicts and wars, and provide safe havens for refugees and persons fleeing wars in Asia, Africa, South America, and even in Europe itself and other places.
The new test this time is represented by what is happening on the European continent itself again… It has been flaring for about six months since the development of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis into a frank and open war that placed the entire world on the brink of a third world war between the major powers, and revealed a large number of accompanying atrocities which are still ongoing. Russia escalated its threats and invaded Ukrainian territory on February 24, 2022, after it took control of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula in 2014, following the outbreak of a wave of demonstrations that overthrew the then-existing Ukrainian government, which was close to Russia. These demonstrations led to a complete change of situation, and to the emergence of a state of hostility between the two countries which was accompanied by international political interventions from Europe and the United States of America, in addition to military interventions from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
This war witnessed the use of the deadliest and most modern weapons produced by the arms factories of the East and the West alike. During the past months, it led to the death and injury of tens of thousands of civilians and of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers. It also led to the displacement of millions of Ukrainians to neighboring countries, as well as the displacement of millions of others to areas less affected by the war inside Ukraine. The bombing and warfare also included most of the Ukrainian cities through aerial bombardment and winged and hypersonic missiles fired from the air, land and sea. Russian regions on the common borders were also affected by the acts of war, as they were bombed by Ukrainians. Many countries around the world, especially the poor, were also affected by this war because of its impact on the export of Russian and Ukrainian wheat to global markets.
As expected, the Security Council failed to issue a unified position and call for stopping the war and resolving problems through negotiations, despite the fact that this war constitutes the greatest threat to international peace and security and may lead to the outbreak of a third nuclear war. The major powers also failed to play any role, and each of them took the side of one of the parties to the conflict. Economic sanctions and other punitive measures were imposed, individually and jointly, on the State of Russia. Attempts at mediation between the two parties are still weak and have limited impact and effectiveness.
In light of the atrocities committed, the International Criminal Court, which is recognized by 123 countries, took action and opened investigations into the war crimes committed, and issued international summons cards against those involved. However, its role remains limited in view of Russia’s lack of recognition of it, and its lack of tools to impose its procedures and provisions.
The outbreak of this war, the actions and crimes committed in it, and their implications re-raise the first legal questions regarding the importance and value of International Law and regarding its binding, the legitimacy of war in resolving conflicts, and the impunity of war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. It adds to it many new problems, such as: Is joining political and military alliances a sovereign right of states, or is it a limited and relative right? How can International Law and its institutions protect small countries from the aggression and oppression of big countries? How can the institutions of International Law, especially the Security Council, be moved if the aggressor is a member of it and holds the right to object (veto)? What is the role of regional organizations in maintaining international peace and security?
Do mock referendums organized in the occupied territories give legitimacy to the invasion and occupation of the lands of other countries and to sovereignty over them? What is the position of International Law and its institutions on that? Why did preventive measures fail to prevent the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine? Does what happened encourage the outbreak of conflicts and wars in other regions in order to achieve geo-strategic goals? What is the way for International Law and its institutions to curb such trends that pose a threat not only to small states, but to humanity as a whole?
These and other questions need research and study by researchers in International Law in its various disciplines and fields, with the aim of contributing to providing solutions and legal jurisprudence to existing and emerging problems, emphasizing law and negotiations as ways to resolve international and national conflicts and to achieving coexistence between human societies, and rejecting force, arrogance, and injustice in international relations.