"Two central questions are at the core of international legal theory: "What is international law?", and "Is international law really law?"" "This volume examines these critical questions and the philosophical foundations of modern international law using the tools of Anglo-American legal theory and western political thought. Engaging with both contemporary and historical legal theory, and coupled with an analysis of international law in action, the book constructs a theory of law from the perspective of those who use this legal system, rather than from an artificial, academic standpoint. Law at the Vanishing Point provides a new challenge to those who reduce international law either to ethics or to politics and provides a critical new appraisal of its power as an independent force in human social relations."--Jacket.