Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The concluding chapter synthesizes the findings of the book and outlines some of their implications, as well as elements of a normative assessment. It presents eight core lessons from the study undertaken in this book for the understanding of international legal change, focusing especially on the (limited) role of states and power, the (important) role of authority constellations, and the variation in the paths of change across the different fields of international law. The chapter then focuses on three implications for the study of international law and international relations. It highlights the challenge our account represents for a sources-based understanding of the international legal order, the need for students of norm change in international relations to pay greater attention to authority and institutions, and the contrast with rationalist accounts of international law stemming from the paths of change we have identified and the ‘path dependencies’ (and ‘inefficient’ results) they create. In a third step, the chapter outlines elements of a normative assessment of the mechanisms of change in international law, emphasizing the tension between the need for dynamic responses to global challenges and the importance of checks on the risk of domination that comes with non-consensual processes. The current paths of change represent a certain (and certainly non-ideal) compromise between both. This compromise continues to condition and structure change processes in international law, but in light of current political challenges, it is bound to come under significant pressure in the years and decades ahead.</jats:p>