Pufendorf's enduring legacy for international law

Pufendorf is often purported as an early modern exemplar of legal positivism. Law was conceptualized as command: it had to have an author (i.e. the 'binding of a superior') to qualify as law and be enforceable. Pufendorf's repudiation of a distinct law of nations appears to be an important event in the development of international law that, on the one hand, opened up the international domain to legal positivism, yet, on the other, also elevated its status. To understand his legacy, this chapter asks what Pufendorf hoped to accomplish through international law and whether it aligns with our own aspirations. His moral guidance concerning international law has been a source of discussion in times of crises, such as in the aftermath of both world wars, and continues to be revisited by legal scholars and historians of thought. Thus, this chapter also focuses on how Pufendorf's teachings shaped these discussions.