El Eco de Tucídides: Poder, Guerra y Fronteras en el Siglo XXI

Review: The Echo of Thucydides in 21st Century International Law and Power Politics by Andres Cosialls Andrés COSIALLS’ article, “El Eco de Tucídides: Poder, Guerra y Fronteras en el Siglo XXI”, is a compelling contribution to the ongoing debate between legal idealism and political realism in international relations. Anchored in the classical thought of Thucydides, particularly the “Melian Dialogue” in The History of the Peloponnesian War, the author argues that the structure of international law remains fundamentally vulnerable to the logic of power. Through a nuanced legal and geopolitical analysis, COSIALLS illustrates how contemporary state behavior continues to reflect Thucydidean realism—“the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”—despite the normative framework established by the Charter of the United Nations. From a juridical perspective, the essay explores the dissonance between Article 2(4) of the UN Charter—which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state—and the persistent reality of state aggression in multiple geopolitical contexts. The legal analysis is enriched by empirical references to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Turkey’s military operations in northern Syria, Israeli actions in Syria, Rwanda’s alleged involvement in eastern DRC, and China’s assertive posture in the South China Sea and Taiwan. What distinguishes this article is its jurisprudential acuity: COSIALLS does not merely describe these instances as violations of international law but frames them within a broader critique of legal enforceability. The article effectively argues that the international legal order lacks the coercive mechanisms necessary to deter or punish great powers when they pursue military objectives. International institutions such as the United Nations, though normatively significant, are structurally limited in imposing effective sanctions, particularly when confronted with the strategic calculus of militarily dominant states. In doing so, the article engages with the theoretical tension between lex lata (the law as it is) and lex ferenda (the law as it ought to be). COSIALLS’ realist approach reaffirms the former, suggesting that the current state of affairs reflects the unaltered primacy of power over legal principle. However, implicit in the argument is a call for a recalibration of global governance structures that would reinforce legal norms with effective enforcement capacity—an urgent necessity in an era of resurgent militarism and normative erosion. Legally and politically literate readers will appreciate the article’s analytical clarity and the way it revitalizes classical political thought within the framework of 21st-century legal studies. The author’s invocation of Thucydides is not merely rhetorical, but deeply methodological, offering a historical lens through which to evaluate the enduring fragility of international law. In conclusion, “El Eco de Tucídides” is a thought-provoking and academically rigorous piece that should be of particular interest to jurists, political scientists, and policymakers alike. It challenges the community of international law to confront its limitations head-on and to reconsider the balance between idealistic norms and realist imperatives in the maintenance of global order.