Small Powers, International Organizations and the Role of Law: Jorge Castañeda’s Views from Mexico

This article examines the work of Mexican diplomat and jurist Jorge Castañeda as an insight into the trajectory of international legal thought in the semi-periphery on international organizations. It argues that Castañeda adopted a distinct approach to international organizations law that foregrounds power asymmetries. The article considers three interventions made by Castañeda that express this semi-peripheral approach and have lasting relevance. First, it shows how, by focusing on the interests of small powers, Castañeda’s work in the 1950s departed from functionalist optimism and stressed the tension between rule by international organizations and domestic rule, emphasizing the centrality of the reserved domain and drawing lessons for strategic legal engagement for small powers. Second, this article studies how Castañeda’s concern for the cause of small powers shaped his views on regionalism, grounding his critique of Pan-Americanism and his vindication of the United Nations (UN) to attenuate the perils of regionalism. Third, this article retrieves Castañeda’s defence of the UN General Assembly as a platform for international law-making, contextualizes it within the rise of decolonization and explores the implications for his earlier sceptical views about the expansion of UN powers. The article concludes by highlighting the significance of the thought of semi-peripheral jurists for any efforts aimed at re-theorizing international organizations.