Establishing the Argumentative DNA of International Law: A Cubistic View on the Rule of Treaty Interpretation and its Underlying Legal Culture(s)

Abstract

There is an increasing tendency to frame international legal discourse in terms of regional designations. We speak, for example, of European or American approaches or of Latin American international law. This development could seriously impact the perception of international law. The present article attempts to deepen the understanding of what happens when we think about international law and international legal theory in national or regional terms. The article looks at different approaches to treaty interpretation which have been framed as European and American, to see how this impacts on international legal discourse. In a first step, the two approaches at the Vienna Conference on the Law of Treaties will be explained. Secondly, two narratives will be developed to describe what happened in Vienna in turn as European/American or as international legal discourse. The third part reflects on the consequences of framing concepts and theories in this way, with particular reference to the rules of treaty interpretation.