No International Organization Over Land or Seas

02/08/2008 Mises Wire Mises.org

From Rothbard’s Conceived in Liberty (Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 3; p. 56): “That the seas were to be open to all and free from government control was an idea that Grotius, the founder of international law, derived from Spanish philosophical thought, especially from the work of Francisco Suarez. Suarez had established the basis for international law by deducing from the variety of peoples and states that the unity of the human race can only be represented by a general rational international law, and not by a general political organization or domination, whether over the lands or over the seas.” The audio version of Chapter 3 (”The Virginia Company”) is now available for download: Conceived in Liberty: The Audio Book.

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