The legacy of punishment in international law

"The Legacy of Punishment in International Law illustrates how 17th and 18th century rationales for the use of force in support of piracy and colonialism have been transformed into progressive features of contemporary International Law. The classic practice of international punishment was a part of the jus ad bellum, and was the fig leaf for intra-European violence, and for the European conquest of the Americas. It has been transformed, however, into the basis for the assertion of a set of unconditionally, universally binding rules of international law, and for universal jurisdiction over perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes"--