Realpolitik in global governance: Understanding the competing realist and cosmopolitan narratives of the nineteenth century era of international law

The nineteenth century era of international law is often cited as being dominated by a realist ideology, which was a result of the flexible and unregulated nature of this model of international law. As a result, much focus is placed on how European states often utilised international law to justify colonial expansionist policies. However, this fails to highlight some of the essential cosmopolitan developments that took place during the nineteenth century such as the Hague Conventions, the Geneva Protocols, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Subsequently, I seek to illustrate how the nineteenth century model of international law was a product of both realism and cosmopolitanism by investigating the development of the international legal system during this era. I argue that the emergence of realist and cosmopolitan paradigms of international law in the nineteenth century are a result of the prevalence of realpolitik influences in the nineteenth century era of international law. As states adopted a pragmatic approach to global governance, the international legal system became an amalgamation of competing ideologies influencing the international stage when most appropriate. Thus, this paper provides a more nuanced understanding of the history of global governance to avoid dogmatic assumptions of international affairs.