International law is often seen as a neutral system designed to regulate relations between states and promote global order. But its foundations tell a far more complex story.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Ville Kari, a scholar of international law and legal history at Tilburg University, who explores how the international legal system came to be, and why understanding its origins matters today. Looking beyond doctrine, the conversation traces international law as a historical process shaped by war, religion, empire, and political compromise.

From the Peace of Westphalia and the emergence of sovereign equality to the colonial encounters of the “New World,” the episode highlights how legal ideas developed alongside, and often in support of expansion and domination. Early concepts framed as universal, such as trade and interaction, were not only tools of cooperation but also used to justify conquest when resisted.

These tensions reveal a deeper reality: international law has never existed in isolation from power. It has continuously evolved in response to political, economic, and societal pressures, reflecting both progress and inequality.

This episode invites listeners to reconsider international law not as a fixed framework, but as a contested and evolving system: one whose past continues to shape its present and future.