'Voluntary' International Law

[Prefatory Note: This post was initially published on January 27, 2020 in a Turkish online publication, Fikir Turu, and is slightly modified below.]
 
The Decline of International Law
 
There is widespread agreement that international law is experiencing a sharp decline in
relevance when it comes to foreign policy, especially in the eye of the public. At first glance,

[Prefatory Note: This post is a modified and enlarged version of a talk I gave in Geneva a week ago. The audience was a blend of students of all ages from around the world, with almost none from Europe and North America, and several NGO representatives with lots of UN experience.]
 
 Why the peoples of the world need the UN: multilateralism, international law, human rights, and ecological sustainability