Renaissance Writer Francisco de Vitoria on the Pre-Eminence of International Law

The Renaissance is rightly celebrated as the age when western society moved out of the Middle Ages to form the basis of the modern world. It was an age when art, music, literature, philosophy and science innovated and developed. Philosophers began to debate and question the nature of political authority, with the Spanish Jesuit Suarez outrageously declaring that as sovereignty lay with the people, they had the right to overthrow an unjust monarch. Later in the 17th century John Locke would attack the patriarchal theory of government, and argue that the people had the right not only to elect their own representatives and formulate governmental policy, thus laying the foundations for modern political liberalism.

The invasion of the Americas spurred a debate on the nature of international law, as jurists and philosophers questioned the morality and legality of the Spanish conquest of the indigenous nations. These were based on Christian Just War theory and the old Roman idea of the Lex Gentium, the Law of Nations. This held that there were common ideas of justice held by all nations governing international affairs, ideas further developed in the 17th century by the Dutch writer Hugo Grotius. One of the writers to examine this question after the conquest of the Americas was the Spanish writer Francisco De Vitoria. In his De jure belli and De potestate civili De Vitoria firmly stated that Christian states should only wage defensive wars. Wars should not be waged because of difference of religion, neither the extension of empire or the glorification of the prince. All of which means that Trump’s desire to annexe Greenland and Canada, through military force if necessary, are morally unjust. De Vitoria’s views on international law and the just war are laid out in an extract ‘War and the Law of Nations’ in James Bruce Ross and Mary Martin McLaughlin, eds. The Portable Renaissance Reader (Viking Penguin, Revised Edition 1968).

At the end of the extract De Vitoria places the nature of war with the context of the international community and argues for the pre-eminence of the Law of Nations. He writes

‘From all that has been said, a corollary may be inferred, namely: that international law has not only the force of a pact and agreement among me, but also the force of a law; for the world as a whole, being iin a way one single state, has the power to create law that are just and fitting for all persons, as are the rules of international law. Consequently, it is clear that they who violate these international rules, whether in peace or in war, commit a mortal sin; moreover, in the gravest matters, such as the inviolability of ambassadors, it is not permissible for one country to refuse to be bound by international law, the latter having been established by the whole world.’

This was written in 1532, centuries before the foundation of that bugbear of the American right, the United Nations. The modern neo-Con view of international relations firmly rejects the idea of international law, seeing international affairs as a Hobbesian war of each nation against all for dominance. Hence Trump’s flouting of it in his kidnapping of Maduro, demands for the annexation of Greenland, Canada, and the possibility of further action against Cuba and Colombia.

Some National Conservative thinkers have argued that we should no longer judge the past by our modern viewpoint and condemn it for its immorality compared to our modern standards. Rather we should reverse this, and see how immoral our modern world is when judged by their standards.

Well,, if we judge Trump’s neo-Con imperialism by the standards argued by De Vitoria, he stands utterly condemned. Sometimes our ancestors really are wiser than our modern leaders, and speak their wisdom across the ages.

We should listen.

Trump Breaks International with Venezuela and Threat to Invade Canada; Starmer Stays Dumb

Mike over at the Whip Line, his new political blog that replaces Vox Political, has posted about the hypocrisy of Starmer over the American kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro. Maduro is a genuinely nasty piece of work, and very few Venezuelans are sorry to see him go. But the kidnapping is a violation of international law. Hence the protests from the left. Except Starmer. This is despite Starmer having stood up and said he will defend international law. So that’s another broken pledge to go along with all the others.

But if Starmer was merely silent, anti-Muslim activist, thug and fraudster Tommy Robinson was actively calling on X yesterday for Trump to abduct Starmer because he was letting the Muslims and all the other immigrants in. Of course, if Trump did, it would be a violation of our sovereignty and make Tommy Robinson a collaborator. So, not very patriotic of the man whose the figurehead, or one of them, of the patriotic movement.

Trump is also demanding Greenland, because he claims that it’s vital for American national security. Strange that he’s saying this now, when no-one said anything about it during the Cold War. His spokesman, Stephen Miller, gave a television interview about it, and the dulcet toned Irish YouTuber Maximilien Robespierre has put up a video commenting on it.

Miller repeats the claim that it’s vital for American national security, and then claims that its annexation by Trump would benefit the rest of NATO, because they’d get increased American protection. He questioned the Danes’ right to the country, and said that there wouldn’t be any resistance to America marching in and taking it.

Robespierre points out that this completely ignores the wishes of the Greenlanders and the Danes. 87 per cent of whom don’t want to be part of America. Why would they, when they have all the benefits of a modern European country like state healthcare? Now I thought a country’s desire for self-government against foreign invasion was enshrined in international law, though I may be wrong. It’s certainly been a reason for nations calling on others to help them resist a foreign aggressor. As for the Danes’ right to the country, it was colonised by the Vikings in the early middle ages, but the colony was wiped out in the 14th century in the little ice age that created a harsher climate and famines across northern Europe. The Danes then re-colonised the country in the 19th century. Its population is a mixture of Danes and indigenous Inuit. It’s never been part of America, which has zero claim on it.

As for Greenland not resisting a military invasion because it’s so small, don’t be so sure. Sometimes tiny countries with much smaller populations have put up determined resistance to foreign invasion and occupation lasting decades. Libya is a case in point. It’s another nation with a small population, but it resisted the Italian invasion and occupation for about two decades, during which it lost a third of its population to Fascist butchery. I doubt that would happen in Greenland, but Trump might find any invasion much more difficult than he realises.

According to a Double Dose of Democracy, the Danish president has stated that if Trump does invade Greenland, he will invoke article 5 of the treaty. This will call on all the other members of NATO to join them in resisting Trump. It would, of course, be up to them how they respond, but it would destroy NATO.

This puts Britain and Starmer in an awkward position. Brexit means that we would have difficulty allying ourselves with the EU, because we are dependent on Trump’s goodwill and our connections with America. Furthermore, British politicians of both parties are fully behind the Atlantic alliance and supporting America thanks to the efforts of BAP, the British-American Project for the Successor Generation. This was an organisation launched by Reagan all that time ago to train the promising politicians of the future into backing America. It provided trips to America with talks and seminars. You won’t be surprised to know that one of the beneficiaries was Tony Blair. For more information on BAP, go to the website of the conspiracy magazine Lobster and look them up.

This is why I believe that if Trump invades Greenland, Starmer and Britain will remain silent. And I don’t doubt that the right-wing press like the Times and the Torygraph will lie and actively promote it.

Here-s the video by Robespierre laying into Miller.

Trump Threatens More Countries After Strike Against Venezuela

More from the Daily Dose of Democracy:

‘Bellicose Trump threatens MULTIPLE countries after Maduro’s capture
Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Mexico, and — why not — Iran: take heed! America’s wannabe dictator is obviously feeling frisky following this past weekend’s audacious abduction of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro and appears hellbent on continuing his imperial march across the planet, no matter the cost. Less than 48 hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump openly admitted that US military action against Colombia “[sounded] good to [him],” ominously warned Cuba was “ready to fall,” and repeated his desire to simply take Greenland for national security purposes. The MAGA cult leader told reporters, “The European Union needs us to have it, and they know that,” which, for the record, is very much not the case. Donald wasn’t finished barking, not by a long shot. He repeated his earlier threats to take military action against Iran if the government crackdown on demonstrators protesting the state of the economy turned violent — which, by all accounts, has already occurred. And finally, Donald issued a fresh warning to Mexico over drug trafficking, saying the country “has to get their act together” or else. Whew! It’s almost as if there’s a festering scandal dogging the embattled president on the domestic front and his regime is desperately looking for cover wherever it can find it. Almost. Oh, hey. Speaking of…’

Daily Dose of Democracy Reveals Why Trump Didn’t Appoint Venezuela’s Opposition Leader President

This shows just how Trump is megalomaniac narcissist riddle with petty jealousy and spite. He didn’t appoint Venezuela’s opposition leader president after his kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro because she had committed the heinous crime of receiving a Nobel prize instead of him. The internet newsletter’s article runs

‘Trump sidelined Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for “ultimate sin” of accepting Nobel Peace Prize
Nothing could be more on-brand and quintessentially Trumpian than the report coming from The Washington Post about how Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was apparently iced out of Trump’s post-abduction governing plans for the nation of 30 million because she committed the unforgivable sin of accepting the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize instead of demanding it be given to him. During a press conference following the mission, Donald threw Machado under the bus, stating, “It’d be very tough for her to be the leader” because “she doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.” The comments reportedly stunned members of Venezuela’s opposition, who had expected Washington to rally behind Machado, according to The Post. For anyone to be stunned by Donald Trump’s spiteful, self-serving behavior at this point is newsworthy in and of itself, for the president’s petulance is truly unmatched. And while this side plot ultimately isn’t even close to the most consequential revelation of the weekend, it should serve as stark reminder to anyone on the world stage willing to play ball with Donald; he will never not put his own ego and self-interest first.’

The New Republic on the Negative Consequences of Trump’s Kidnapping of Venezuela’s President Maduro

This little piece came courtesy of the Daily Dose of Democracy, a Democrat newsletter tearing into Trump and the Republicans and all their sordid works. Trump’s invasion of Venezuela has been condemned by the left and various countries around the world as a violation of international law. Critics of the invasion state that it gives a precedent for Putin and China to invade whomever carve up the world however they like. This point is well made in a video put up by mellifluous Irish left-wing YouTuber Maximilian Robespierre in a video in which he tears apart the bonkers and ignorant opinions of Reform’s Richard Tice on the invasion. As I write, another video’s gone up stating that the Greenlanders are worried in case Trump invades them. And this article below states clearly that the invasion is probably motivated by greed for the country’s oil, and that Trump will most likely install another right-wing dictator.

So American politics as usual in Latin America.

‘Trump has started carving up the world. Now it’s Putin and Xi’s turn
Brynn Tannehill, The New Republic: “The U.S. invasion of Venezuela late last Friday shocked the world for many reasons. It represents another fundamental departure from the post-WWII order supported by the United States for the last 50 years. It was also an unprovoked, naked act of aggression based on the flimsiest of pretexts. Congress was not consulted, and the executive branch has far exceeded the 60 days allowed by the 1973 War Powers Act to get congressional approval for ongoing military action. Far worse than these shattered norms are the horrifying possibilities this action raises. President Donald Trump and the GOP have laid bare their desires for hegemony, colonialism, and empire, and the dangerous global consequences of America pursuing these cannot be understated. Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was an unpopular kleptocratic dictator, and this article should not be in any way interpreted as a defense of him; but it is a warning of what this invasion means, and what is to come. Perhaps the most blatant of all the recent acts is Trump’s own declaration that the U.S. will ‘take control’ of Venezuela ‘for a while’ to seize and exploit the oil resources of the country. He will undoubtedly place a right-wing dictator beholden to him in charge of the country, opening the door to yet another avenue for foreign money flowing to him. Similarly, oil companies will compete with one another for access to the seized assets, meaning more money being laundered to Trump, his family, and other supporters in this spoils-of-war system. This act has also sent a chilling message to the world that the United States is beginning the process of carving up the world into spheres of influence run by dictatorships (namely the U.S., Russia, and China). Russia was Venezuela’s benefactor and ally but has been strangely quiet. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Fiona Hill testified to Congress in 2019 that Russia was ‘signaling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap agreement between Venezuela and Ukraine.’ In other words, the U.S. could have Venezuela if we let Russia have Ukraine. This strongly suggests that the price for letting the U.S. go after Venezuela without any protest was, and will be, Ukraine. It also suggests that Tawain may already be on the table as a bargaining chip with China, in order to secure its acquiescence to further U.S. regional hegemony in the Americas. Trump has signaled that the global order of the past 80 years means nothing, and the U.S. is back in the business of colonial empire-building as if it was a pre-World War One great power. Canada and Greenland should be extremely alarmed by this. Both of these countries have been put on notice since the beginning of the second Trump administration that he intends to annex them, and this overt, over-the-top act of war against Venezuela confirms that there’s nothing stopping him from finding some pretextual casus belli to justify a U.S. annexation of Greenland. Denmark, Canada, and Greenland are all NATO members, and it appears the U.S. is barreling toward a confrontation with that organization. Leaders of democracies around the world need to understand this for what it likely is: the opening salvos of a broader campaign of modern Lebensraum and Anschluss. History teaches that the best time to say no in concrete terms is early, and not after despotic nations are deciding who gets to keep which parts of countries they invaded.”‘

And here’s the video from Maximilien Robespierre, taking apart, among other things, Tice’s weird view that Putin is a Communist. He isn’t. He’s a Russian nationalist, but obviously as regards Tice and Reform, the Fall of Communism and its banning in Russia just never happened.