The US-Iran Conflict: A Defining Moment for Global Order
The Idea of International Law: From Grotius to the United Nations
The ‘Vanishing Point’ of Jurisprudence
Return to ‘Matsyanyaya’: The Law of the Jungle
Nuclear Deterrence and the New Strategic Reality
An in-depth analysis of the US-Iran conflict, the erosion of international law, the legacy of Hugo Grotius, and how global power politics signal a return to ‘matsyanyaya’—the law of the jungle in world affairs.
The US-Iran conflict and the collapse of international law
By Justice Markandey Katju
I had expressed my views on the US-Iran war in this article.
Since then hostilities have continued, resulting in more deaths and destruction, and the conflict shows no sign of abating, with China and Russia sending aid to the Iranians, and many European countries to the Americans and Israelis. No one can predict how long will the hostilities last, and how much blood will be shed before they end.
Both the US attack on Venezuela ( with the Venezuelan President being handcuffed and blindfolded, and then carted off with his wife to America, to face a kangaroo trial ), and the recent US-Israeli bombing of Iran, have established one thing clearly: international law has come to an end, and the UN and its Charter are just a joke and scarecrows.
The Dutch scholar-cum-diplomat Hugo Grotius ( 1583-1645 ) who is regarded as the father of international law, on seeing the horrors of European wars, realized that there must be some rules regulating behaviour of nations, otherwise the human race could not long survive.
He wrote :
'' Fully convinced that there is a common law among nations, which is valid alike for war and peace, I have had many and weighty reasons for undertaking to write upon the subject.
Throughout the Christian world, I observed a lack of restraint in relation to war, such as even barbarous races should be ashamed of. I observed that men rush to arms for slight causes or no cause at all, and that when arms have once been taken up, there is no longer any respect for the law, divine or human; it is as if, in accordance with a general decree, frenzy had openly been let loose for the committing of all kinds of horrible crimes ''.
In his famous book De jure belli ac pacis libri tres (On the Law of War and Peace) first published in 1625, Grotius advanced a system of legal principles, which he said must be regarded as binding on all people and nations, regardless of local custom. The work is divided into three books:
Book I advances his conception of war and of natural justice, arguing that there are some circumstances in which war is justifiable.
Book II identifies three 'just causes' for war: self-defence, reparation of injury, and punishment; Grotius considers a wide variety of circumstances under which these rights of war attach, and when they do not.
Book III takes up the question of what rules govern the conduct of war once it has begun. Grotius argued that all parties to war are bound by such rules, whether their cause is just or not
Grotius' view that there is a law called international law which is binding on all nations, was in theory accepted by all countries, though in practice they were often flouted by powerful countries e.g. by Hitler who invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, despite the 10 year non aggression pact of 1939 between the two countries
The British jurist Holland ( 1835-1926 ) called international law 'the vanishing point of jurisprudence'. In other words, he doubted that international law could be called a real law at all, because it lacked the attributes of a real law, e.g. a law made by a sovereign legislature, binding sanctions, and an enforcement mechanism. He noted that it functions more by international courtesy than authority.
Despite Holland's objection, international law continued to be recognised as a law binding on nations, and the formation of the United Nations in 1945 and proclamation of the UN Charter, after the horrors of the Second World War, was flaunted as its crowning achievement.
However, the Vietnam war, invasion of Iraq and Latin American countries ( by US troops or their agents ), invasion of Afghanistan ( by the Soviet Union ), etc showed that international law does not apply to powerful countries, as they do not regard themselves bound by it.
The figleaf of 'international law' has finally been removed by US attacks on Venezuela and Iran. It is now evident that there is no such thing as international law, and what really exists in the world is the law of the jungle.
However, Grotius was right that without law the human race cannot survive for long. In fact many people are now speculating that World War 3 has started, which may end in a nuclear holocaust.
In this connection it is interesting to note that our ancient thinkers were of the view that the worst state of affairs possible in the world is a state of lawlessness. When the rule of law collapses, it is replaced by matsyanyaya, which means the law of the jungle.
In Sanskrit, the word ‘matsya’ means fish, and matsyanyaya means the state of affairs when the big fish devours the smaller one. All our ancient thinkers have condemned Matsyanyaya ( see ‘History of the Dharmashastras’ by P.V. Kane, Volume 3, page 21).
This idea of matsyanyaya ( the maxim of the larger fish devouring the smaller ones or the strong despoiling the weak) was frequently dwelt upon by Kautilya, the Mahabharata, and other works. It can be traced back to the Shatapath Brahman (Chapter 11,1.6.24), where it is said, “Whenever there is drought then the stronger seizes upon the weaker, for the waters are the law”, which probably means that when there is no rain, the reign of law comes to an end, and matsyanyaya begins to operate.
Kautilya says “If danda ( punishment ) be not employed, it gives rise to the condition of matsyanyaya, for in the absence of a chastiser the strong devour the weak”. That in the absence of a king (arajaka) or when there is no fear of punishment the condition of matsyanyaya follows has been declared by several works e.g. Ramayana,( Chapter 67), Shantiparva of Mahabharata, (15.30 and 67.16), Kamandaka (@.40), Matsyapurana (225.9), Manasollasa ( 2.20.1295), etc.
Thus in the Shantiparva of Mahabharata it is stated :
” Raja chenna bhavelloke prithivyaam dandadharaka
Shule Matsyanivapakshyun durbalaat balvattarah”
which means
” When the king carrying the rod of punishment does not protect the earth, then the strong persons destroy the weaker ones, just like in water the big fish eat the smaller ones”.
In the Shantiparva of Mahabharata Bheeshma Pitamah tells Yudhishthir that there is nothing worse in the world than lawlessness, for in a state of matsyanyaya nobody, not even the evil doers, are safe, for even the evil doers will sooner or later be swallowed up by bigger evil doers.
What happened in Venezuela and Iran prove that matsyanyaya prevails in the world today, international law means nothing, and weakness will be punished.
Americans, though hostile to North Korea, dare not attack it, as it has nuclear weapons. This sends a message to all non-nuclear countries : develop nuclear weapons if you do not wish to be attacked by powerful countries.
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of the Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)
