Sovereign equality of states in International law

This books contains a course of lectures I delivered at the Hague Academy of International Law in the summer of 1986 and were originally published in the Recueil des Cours, Volume 197 (1986-11). In spite of all the changes in the international society since then, the basic theme and substance of these lectures have not changed. International society still consists of sovereign states and they are very jealous and protective of their sovereignty. In spite of all the criticism of the principle of sovereignty as 'archaic'. 'unworkable', 'misleading', and even 'dangerous' political dogma it is still accepted as one of the most important and sacred principles of international law and is supposed to be the very basis of international relations. Indeed, sovereignty has got so entrenched in the minds of people that it has become, as we shall see, a "postulate" rather than a principle and one of the fundamental assumptions of international law.