Peace of Westphalia & absolute sovereignty

Abstract

This article discusses the emergence of international law, recognized as a specific branch of law, and the consequent realist paradigm established for centuries in international relations through the beacons shaped by the treaties of Westphalia Peace. We attempted to place the reader on the importance of this historic moment that marked hence the advent of the modern nation state, the consolidation of sovereignty - both internally and in the international arena - and determined the molds for the construction of international law that sovereign states had such unique subjects. It is observed that the "balance of power" is not sufficient to ensure global peace, since a foreign state action based solely on the will of the sovereign, by opposing, in most cases, conflicting interests of other equally sovereign individuals, inevitably leads to war. Indeed an international scenario where sovereign entities only act according to their consciences to the achievement of economic interests produces an instrumentalization of human rights, which presents itself as a clearly unworkable system nowadays.