“The [Westphalian] model covers the period of international law from 1648 to 1945 (and some would say it still holds today). It depicts the emergence of a world community consisting of sovereign states which settle their differences
privately and often by force; which engage in diplomatic relations, but otherwise have minimal cooperation; which seek to place their own national interest above all others; and which accept the logic of the principle of effectiveness, that is,
the principle that might eventually makes right in the international world—where appropriation becomes legitimation” (Held, 1995: 86).