Introduction: Why International Law? The summer of 2008 will go down in history as a turning point in international relations – as momentous as the attacks of 9/11, or even as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Russia ended its period of long retreat and asserted her power over a much weaker neighbor. A few weeks later, Western states were forced to take on a level of public debt not seen since the end of World War II in order to save their financial systems from collapse. It is too soon to tell what the political, economic and strategic repercussions of these events will be in the long term, but a tentative assessment can be advanced...

The Kosovo Question On 8 October 2008, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted resolution 63/3 requesting the International Court of Justice to “render an advisory opinion on the following question: Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?”

Concluding Remarks The geo-political position of Azerbaijan must be a central consideration in devising a strategy of engagement with international law...