International law

The development of international law both regionally and throughout the globe has served to influence international relations and political views. But at the same time there is a feeling that such law is only useful where it serves a prescribed purpose that the majority chooses to recognize. In what ways has the law of the EU served to influence relations between their member states? Has this always been a good thing? Discuss with examples.

• Why does the law punish some countries when they break it, whilst others are left to their own devices?

• How successful has the United Nations proved to be as a law enforcement agency?

• Is the US above the law?

• Why are countries like China and Russia allowed to get away with breaches of the law as it stands internationally, whilst Iraq and Afghanistan are punished?

• Were the actions of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan legitimate?

• Is the use of force always justified?

• What reforms are needed by international law to improve international relations?

• In the face of complex politics, can international law ever be universally applicable?

• Why could it be considered best for international relations to have one set of rules for some countries and another set for others?

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Alexander the Great Text 1

Alexander the Great was born at the right time, with the right genes, and the right personality. By the time he died, at age 33, he ruled over 2 million square miles. He never lost a battle (except one against nature). Few men have changed the world as much as he. Taught by Aristotle, the young prince had other advantages. Through his mother, Olympias, he was descended (it is said) from Achilles. Through his murdered father, Philip II of Macedon (pronounced “Bilip” by his countrymen), he inherited a great army. Propelled by ambition and brilliant strategy, Alexander was a military genius. Thousands of years later he was still a role model for would-be conquerors, like Napoleon Bonaparte.

Text 2

Before Alexander III (later called "The Great") was born in Pella, likely on or about July 20 in 356 B.C., the Persian Empire was the dominant power in that part of the world. Cyrus, who founded the empire, and his successors who followed, including Darius, were intent to keep their conquered lands and subjected people. (A century earlier, some of the Persian-controlled territory had been colonized by Greece.) Philip II (Alexander's father) was also a man of military might and persuasive abilities. During his 23-year reign, he built a formidable army, subdued many Greek city-states, and established a Macedonian kingdom which provided protection for his people. Before his death, he considered invading Persia to further strengthen and solidify his country's position. Wishing his son (then fourteen years old) to study with the best teachers available, Philip sought out Aristotle and invited him to educate Alexander. Scholars believe that Alexander's mother (who reportedly learned to read when she was middle-aged) also favored the selection of Plato's brightest pupil.

Text 3

Aristotle was born in Stageira (located in the current Greek prefecture of Chalcidice [also called Halkidiki], Central Macedonia District, just north of the current village of Stagira). Not as famous then as he would become later, Aristotle had studied with Plato who had learned from Socrates. After he arrived in Pella, Aristotle (throughout the ages regarded as one of the best thinkers who ever lived) set up his royal school at Mieza (modern-day Naoussa) where archeologists believe they have uncovered its remains. For the next six years, Greece's greatest mind likely taught Greece's greatest conqueror the following subjects: Greek; Hebrew; Babylonian; Latin. The nature of the sea and the wind. The course of the stars. The life-span of the world. The revolutions of the firmament. The great teacher also showed his royal student the meaning of justice and the skills of rhetoric. And he warned him against the wiles of "loose women."

Text 4

When he was a boy, and a man, Alexander had the same favorite book: The Iliad, by Homer. Since Olympias believed that she was descended from Achilles, her son claimed the same ancestor. It is said that Alexander's tutor, Lysimachus, gained great favor when he nicknamed his young charge "Achilles." Aristotle, at Alexander's request, helped to prepare a special copy of The Iliad which the prince prized so highly, he kept it with him always. Even during his years of conquest he traveled with it, calling Homer's tale his "journey-book of excellence in war." Every night he slept with it, and a dagger, under his pillow. Alexander spoke fast, walked fast, and was so short that when he conquered Persia even a stool wasn't high enough for his feet as he sat on the Persian throne. He carried his head at a slight angle and his eyes - captured by the official court sculptor Lysippus - gazed intently. Sleep was a bother for both him and Aristotle. Of his physical features, this much seems certain: Like his father, he was a very handsome young man. His nose, as statues and paintings stress, was straight; his forehead was prominent and his chin short but jutting; his mouth revealed emotion, and the lips were often shown curling. Born under the sign of Leo, Alexander's images on coins depict him wearing the trademark lion-skin cap of yet another claimed ancestor, Heracles (depicted fighting the Nemean lion). Some scholars think he wore the lion headdress in everyday life.

Text 5

When Alexander was about twelve years old, one of his father's friends gave Philip a beautiful black horse named Bucephalas. Although the horse was extremely expensive - more than three times what one would normally pay at the time for a magnificent mount - Philip was distressed when he inspected the animal. Out of control, it was bucking, kicking and refusing to take commands. Philip, not anticipating what was about to happen, ordered the horse to be removed. The king's son, however, had noticed something significant about Bucephalas. He seemed afraid of his own shadow. Taking advantage of that, Alexander soothed the horse and unlike all others, was able to ride him. Philip, it is said, wept for joy and declared that Macedonia would never keep such a prince within her own boundaries.

Text 6

What was life like in Pella, where both Alexander and his father were born? The towns, and its royal sites, have been archeologically rediscovered during the past fifty years, thereby allowing us to examine the place where the future conqueror spent his youth. Ancient Pella was connected to the sea (the Thermaic Gulf) by a navigable inlet. Because the harbor silted over long ago, however, the site is landlocked today. Based on remains, scholars have reconstructed the royal palace. They have also unearthed other important places and artifacts: The palace court (although scholars believe the mosaic floors are post-Alexander); Bust of Alexander the Great, found at Pella; Ancient pipes uncovered in modern excavations; A Macedonian gold crown worn by royalty. Alexander's future conquests made himself, and his people, wealthy. That wealth is reflected in today's archeological finds at the old Macedonian capital. Some of the oldest mosaics in the world have been unearthed at Pella. Among them (from a time following Alexander) are: A mythological god (Dionysis) riding a leopard; Two warriors (the one on the left is Alexander) fighting a lion; A mythological centaur. The Romans sacked Pella in 168 B.C., and took its treasury to Rome. In the first century B.C., an earthquake destroyed the town. Modern archeologists have uncovered stores, and workshops, with their goods still recognizable. Residents rebuilt the city over its ruins, thereby preserving them. Long before the earthquake rocked Pella, however, a man-made incident rocked Philip's kingdom. It happened unexpectedly, during a time of celebration.

Text 7

In the summer of 336 B.C., Philip II was home in Macedonia. His conquests had been many (like Mount Pangeon which provided a source of gold to fund Philip's expeditions). Towns had been named after him (like Philippi, later made famous when Paul the apostle preached there). But the once-handsome man now carried the scars of war. After two decades of fighting, his immediately noticeable injury was a missing eye. Alexander (who had a previous falling-out with his father) was also at the royal palace that summer day since his family was celebrating both a wedding and Philip's upcoming invasion of Asia. Philip, known as a "man whose like had never been seen in Europe," had given his daughter (Cleopatra) in marriage to an ally (King Alexander of Epirus). Philip himself had married - again - not long before. He had already divorced Olympias, Alexander's mother (who was from Epirus, not Macedonia). The king's new wife Eurydice (his seventh, also called Cleopatra) was a young Macedonian, with whom Philip had a young daughter (named Europe) and an infant son (named Caranus, after the founder of the Macedonian royal dynasty). Angered by her own denigration, Olympias was also concerned about the succession of Alexander. In Macedonia, it was never certain that the oldest son would become king. And Alexander, unlike Caranus, was not a full-blooded Macedonian. Although it may not have disturbed Philip, there is another interesting piece of Macedonian history to consider. None of Philip's predecessors had died in his own bed. Since the king's power was purely personal, his authority was as absolute as he could make it. Homer's statement, made hundreds of years before, still applied: "Rule by might." In Homer's world, heroes strive for glory since death is inescapable. And in Philip's world, a loss of face could lead to a loss of title - or worse. As part of the celebrations, Philip ordered his bodyguards to leave him for a time. (Philip was a leader, not a tyrant, and it would have sent the wrong signal for him to attend a public celebration, in the royal theater, surrounded by armed men.) Pausanias, one of Philip's guards, disobeyed those orders and lingered behind. Unnoticed, Pausanias clutched a Celtic dagger which he plunged into Philip, killing him. Recent excavations have revealed the probable spot in the theater where Philip was stabbed. To this day, no one really knows who plotted Philip's murder. Many scholars point to Olympias who surely had motive. Alexander was soon cleared as a suspect, although scholars have wondered about his involvement. The prince acted quickly, however, to secure his power base and to make sure he would become his father's successor. More than 2,300 years later - in one of the most stunning archeological achievements of the 20th century - a tomb, believed to be Philip's, was rediscovered. Left untouched for thousands of years, its contents were nothing short of astonishing.

Text 8

Before Pella became the royal capital, the ancient town of Aigai had served that purpose. Since at least 1850, scholars believed the tranquil hills of nearby Vergina contained the graves or tombs (you need Real Player for this video link) of Macedonian royalty. In 1977, the late Greek archeologist, Manolis Andronikos, working in Vergina (also spelled Verghina) discovered several tombs. Two had never been plundered. One of those (believed, at the time, to be Philip's) contained a gold casket (called a larnax) with a royal Macedonian star burst on its cover. Inside the casket were cremated remains. Although there is scholarly disagreement, Andronikos (who published a book with numerous pictures of his findings) and his colleagues believed those cremated remains were of Alexander's father, Philip II. A skull - believed, by some, to be Philip's - was also recovered. The Great Tumulus Museum at Vergina, site of ongoing excavations (like the town's Acropolis), possesses the golden casket, a recovered bust of Philip II, and many artifacts. This video (you need Real Player to watch it) will enlighten you about some of the treasures found in Philip's grave. Based on their discoveries, scholars have reconstructed the royal palace where Philip and Alexander lived. Archeologists have turned over their incredible finds to Greek museums.

Text 9

For 150 years before Alexander's birth, the city-states of mainland Greece fought off-and-on with each other and with foreigners. At the time, towns along the eastern Aegean Sea (known then as Asia Minor and today as Turkey) were also Greek.Those Greek Asia Minor cities (like Ephesus) were frequently dominated by non-Greek powers. They once owed their allegiance to the Kingdom of Lydia (anchored in its capital of Sardis where a temple to Artemis [Diana] was fourth largest in the ancient world). Thereafter, they were run by Persia (today's Iran) after Lydia was overwhelmed by the meteoric rise of Persia as an imperial power. In 499 B.C., when Greek cities in Asia Minor rebelled against Persian control, forces from the Greek mainland came to their aid. Darius (in 490) and Xerxes (in 480 B.C.), retaliating against the helpers, launched two unsuccessful invasions. Persian defeats meant the mainland was temporarily secure from foreigners, but prominent Greek cities soon relapsed into hostilities between themselves. The long years of fighting between Sparta and Athens (known as the Peloponnesian War) exhausted everyone. Shifting loyalties continued and, by 386 B.C., Athens and Sparta conceded Persian dominion over the Greek cities of mainland Asia Minor in exchange for recognition of their own claims. That peace did not last long either, with endless acts of violence and destruction continuing even when patriotic motives were not obvious. Macedonia had been largely exempt from this miserable state of affairs. Spared from Greco-Persian political wrangling, Macedonia was not part of the treaty which forfeited the Greek cities of Asia Minor. So when Philip II, who had been acting as regent in Macedon, made himself king in 358 B.C., he and his highly trained standing army ultimately accomplished what the Greeks needed but could not achieve. Philip imposed peace. Summoning the Greek city-states to a conference in Corinth, Philip emerged as leader of a Greek federation which would wage an offensive against Persia. Before he could enact his plans of war, however, Philip was murdered in 336. Executing his father's assassin without asking questions, and having anyone else who threatened his position as Philip's heir killed as well, Alexander - at age 20 - became king of Macedonia. Anyone who thought he was not up to the job would soon learn otherwise.