Do Non-State Actors Strengthen or Weaken International Law?

The chapter compares the liberal beliefs and sensibilities informing the question of the rise or decline of international law with the liberalism found in the way in which the concept of non-state actors has been conceptualized, theorized, and used in international legal thought and practice. It shows that the question of whether non-state actors strengthen or weaken international law prejudges its very answer and supports an image of international law on the rise. In doing so, the discussion simultaneously shows that liberal discourses are organized around liberal symbioses that are necessary to preserve international lawyers’ confidence in the ability of international law to intervene in the problems of the world.