Commemorative events on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the date of the beginning of World War I are taking place in Europe these days. Presidents of France and Germany François Hollande and Joachim Gauck laid the first stone of a "Memorial to the Great War" at a local military cemetery in Alsace, and the president of Russia Vladimir Putin called for lessons to be learned from those events. The tragedy of that war "recalls the consequences of the aggression and selfishness, the excessive ambitions of the heads of state and political elites taking precedence over common sense … It is good to remember it today," Putin said.In the opinion of the rector of MGIMO, Anatoly Torkunov, one of the main lessons of World War I is understanding that to prevent a repetition of world slaughter the formation of a strong international legal system requires having as a core element a universal international organization. The League of Nations became such an organization, whose charter constituted an integral part of the Treaty of Versailles, which drew a line under World War I. "For the first time in world history, an internationally-recognized legal mechanism was created in the notorious imperfection of the League of Nations directed at preventing new world war. However, as well as the situation on the eve of World War I, specific state and national interests of certain powers, which were formed by their elites of that time, appeared above international law, which was rejected and crushed again. After World War II the situation repeated itself: the creation of the successor to the League of Nations - the United Nations was a result of a consensus of the victorious countries, a more perfect, capable, universal international organization whose main goal, as well as was the case with the League of Nations, was proclaimed " to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lives has brought inexpressible grief to mankind". It is a quote from the preamble to the charter of the UN. The UN cemented the international system. The basic principles of modern international relations were enshrined in the charter of the UN, observance of which was urged to provide a stable and safe world. It seemed that the ideal world order was almost created. The UN, its charter and together with them the whole system of international law passed the test of the Cold War, and stood, despite all difficulties and the dramatic nature of the historical period. And hardly anybody could assume that the real check on the durability of the modern international legal system would begin after the end of the Cold War. Since the early 1990s, Russia has consistently shown double standards in its approach to international law. In 1994 the political leadership at that time, which it is difficult to suspect of rejection of the USA, declared that the Cold War could be replaced by a Cold World," Torkunov reminds. In his opinion, the negative tendencies in international relations in the two decades which have passed since then have only been amplified. "Before our eyes the modern system of international law is collapsing and being degraded. It isn't necessary to go far for examples, there is the bombardment of the Republic of Yugoslavia, and the intervention in Iraq carried out without Security Council sanction, which led to the destruction of these countries, it is the approach by the NATO states to the resolution of the UNSC on Libya, their direct support of rebels which led to the bloody change of regime in this country. The might of right, unfortunately, can compete less with the rights of the mighty. It is a very dangerous symptom. And today all of us are witnesses to the bloody tragedy in the east of Ukraine. We have different, probably even opposing assessments of the situation in this state from our western colleagues. The USA and their allies randomly determined in advance who is right in this situation and who is guilty. It is not a new approach, it is characteristic of the West in recent years and not only in recent years. The USA and the EU try to punish Russia with unilateral sanctions, the application of which is a very dangerous precedent in our opinion." Both world wars, which became the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, began with the deformation of the international legal system, which collapsed under the pressure of the egoistical interests of specific powers, which considered they would be able to achieve their objectives at once, having rejected international law, which had started to bother them. "Today we see signs or maybe concrete manifestations of such a course. Russia, which suffered from the two world wars more than any other country, is terribly interested in the efficiency of an international legal system and does everything depending on it," Torkunov claims.
Commemorative events on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the date of the beginning of World War I are taking place in Europe these days. Presidents of France and Germany François Hollande and Joachim Gauck laid the first stone of a "Memorial to the Great War" at a local military cemetery in Alsace, and the president of Russia Vladimir Putin called for lessons to be learned from those events. The tragedy of that war "recalls the consequences of the aggression and selfishness, the excessive ambitions of the heads of state and political elites taking precedence over common sense … It is good to remember it today," Putin said.
In the opinion of the rector of MGIMO, Anatoly Torkunov, one of the main lessons of World War I is understanding that to prevent a repetition of world slaughter the formation of a strong international legal system requires having as a core element a universal international organization. The League of Nations became such an organization, whose charter constituted an integral part of the Treaty of Versailles, which drew a line under World War I. "For the first time in world history, an internationally-recognized legal mechanism was created in the notorious imperfection of the League of Nations directed at preventing new world war. However, as well as the situation on the eve of World War I, specific state and national interests of certain powers, which were formed by their elites of that time, appeared above international law, which was rejected and crushed again. After World War II the situation repeated itself: the creation of the successor to the League of Nations - the United Nations was a result of a consensus of the victorious countries, a more perfect, capable, universal international organization whose main goal, as well as was the case with the League of Nations, was proclaimed " to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lives has brought inexpressible grief to mankind". It is a quote from the preamble to the charter of the UN. The UN cemented the international system. The basic principles of modern international relations were enshrined in the charter of the UN, observance of which was urged to provide a stable and safe world. It seemed that the ideal world order was almost created. The UN, its charter and together with them the whole system of international law passed the test of the Cold War, and stood, despite all difficulties and the dramatic nature of the historical period. And hardly anybody could assume that the real check on the durability of the modern international legal system would begin after the end of the Cold War. Since the early 1990s, Russia has consistently shown double standards in its approach to international law. In 1994 the political leadership at that time, which it is difficult to suspect of rejection of the USA, declared that the Cold War could be replaced by a Cold World," Torkunov reminds.
In his opinion, the negative tendencies in international relations in the two decades which have passed since then have only been amplified. "Before our eyes the modern system of international law is collapsing and being degraded. It isn't necessary to go far for examples, there is the bombardment of the Republic of Yugoslavia, and the intervention in Iraq carried out without Security Council sanction, which led to the destruction of these countries, it is the approach by the NATO states to the resolution of the UNSC on Libya, their direct support of rebels which led to the bloody change of regime in this country. The might of right, unfortunately, can compete less with the rights of the mighty. It is a very dangerous symptom. And today all of us are witnesses to the bloody tragedy in the east of Ukraine. We have different, probably even opposing assessments of the situation in this state from our western colleagues. The USA and their allies randomly determined in advance who is right in this situation and who is guilty. It is not a new approach, it is characteristic of the West in recent years and not only in recent years. The USA and the EU try to punish Russia with unilateral sanctions, the application of which is a very dangerous precedent in our opinion."
Both world wars, which became the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, began with the deformation of the international legal system, which collapsed under the pressure of the egoistical interests of specific powers, which considered they would be able to achieve their objectives at once, having rejected international law, which had started to bother them. "Today we see signs or maybe concrete manifestations of such a course. Russia, which suffered from the two world wars more than any other country, is terribly interested in the efficiency of an international legal system and does everything depending on it," Torkunov claims.
![November 2025 in photos: New Year at GUM, the "City of Living Stories," and autumn scenes](https://en.vestikavkaza.ru/upload2/s400xfull/2025-12-02/1764706769692f49d1538777.83780174.webp "November 2025 in photos: New Year at GUM, the "City of Living Stories," and autumn scenes")
