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David Bosco: International law is under strain but still resilient, IU dean says
Summary
At a public lecture, David Bosco, dean of the Hamilton Lugar School at Indiana University, said international law faces serious stress from U.S. policy shifts and rising authoritarian powers but argued international institutions and technology offer reasons for cautious optimism.
David Bosco, dean of the Hamilton Lugar School at Indiana University, told a public audience that the system of international law is “under strain” and would receive a poor grade if assessed today. He pointed to hostile U.S. rhetoric toward international institutions and growing competition from authoritarian powers as the principal pressures on the rules that govern relations among states.
Bosco traced modern international law’s foundations to the post‑World War II era and emphasized that human rights regimes and organizations such as the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court were created to limit uses of force and set minimum standards for how states treat their own people. “If I were to give you a grade on a scale of A to F,” he said during the lecture, “D minus. F. F. F.”
He highlighted how great‑power rivalry—particularly between the United States and China—complicates enforcement and norm building, pointing to disputes in the South China Sea and to domestic political systems that, he said, do not support rights protections. Still, Bosco said institutions have shown resilience after crises and continue to provide forums for dispute resolution and cooperation. The event concluded with an audience Q&A on cryptocurrency, climate and the limits of military intervention.
