Equality and consistency as antidotes to the board-of-peace-world

This column discusses the new Board-of-Peace (BoP) world order in the making and evaluates what role mid-sized and smaller states can take in it. Through a discussion of Venezuela, Palestine, Ukraine, sanctions against the ICC, and the crime of aggression negotiations, it argues that states that want to resist a BoP world in which money or might dictates “right”, must make more explicit efforts to build ties and trust between each other. This means eschewing double standards and misplaced arrogance, and instead fostering allegiances on the basis of equality between states and ensuring consistent application of international law. It also means understanding that double standards not only create a harm that is experienced in the moment but also have a corrosive effect in the whole system of international law and the institutions and courts that have been set up to safeguard it.