3/18/2018 International Law w/ Dr. Arend

 This past Thursday, a variety of globally-minded Poly students had the distinct pleasure of hearing from Georgetown University professor and international law expert Dr. Anthony Arend. Dr. Arend, a scholar, author, and founder of the Institute for Law, Science and Global Security, gave students grades nine through twelve a captivating and dynamic run-down of all things international relations. Starting with the 17th century Peace of Westphalia (which ended the infamous Thirty Years’ War), and ending with a look into an increasingly globalized future, Arend presented students with an accessible and comprehensive timeline of the role international law has played throughout history.
Complex topics like the role of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) on an international scale-- and the ins-and-outs of state sovereignty-- would not have been nearly as accessible had it not been for Arend’s brilliantly logical explanations; at one point, Arend examined excerpts from the 1945 UN Charter-- known primarily for the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)-- and showed students how such excerpts might apply in the modern day. Towards the end of his lecture, Dr. Arend left students with a prediction: the future of international law lies ultimately and inevitably in a concept Arend refers to as "human dignity." This new metric, Arend argues in his new book, Human Dignity and the Future of Global Institutions, will be one under which society will soon govern. 
    Students, including myself, were left pondering the plausibility of an eventual justice system radically different from that of the contemporary. As I gained information about alternate justice systems, I was able to more closely examine the constitution of our own-- including its many shortcomings. Arend undoubtedly succeeded in making clear to students that, despite any word to the contrary, the future of international law and relations is indeed in our hands. 

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