Beyond Westphalia International Law as a Constitution for Humanity and the Planet in the Age of Ai and Existential Crises
Year: 2026
Type: book
Abstract: Beyond Westphalia: International Law as a Constitution for Humanity and the Planet in the Age of AI and Existential Crises, by Dr. Mohamed Kamal Arafa El-Rakhawi, presents a revolutionary reimagining of the international legal order. For over three centuries, the Westphalian model of absolute state sovereignty has governed global relations, but it is now collapsing under the weight of artificial intelligence, climate collapse, cyber warfare, and ecological degradation. This treatise argues that international law must evolve from a horizontal system of state consent into a living, vertical constitution for humanity and the planet. The work is structured in two complementary parts. Part One diagnoses the crisis: the erosion of sovereignty by corporate states and algorithmic power, the accountability vacuum surrounding autonomous weapons and AI, the urgent need to recognize nature as a legal person and criminalize ecocide, the rights of future generations, the glaring loophole leaving climate refugees unprotected, and the lawless frontier of cyberspace. Part Two prescribes the cure: a new framework for cosmic and ocean commons governance, a Cosmic and Terrestrial Criminal Court with jurisdiction over existential crimes, a Planetary Constitution establishing the rights of nature and humanity, a system of preventive diplomacy powered by predictive AI, and a new Global Social Contract grounded in conditional sovereignty and planetary citizenship. The doctrine introduces twelve original quantitative indices—including the Sovereignty Erosion Index, the International Algorithmic Accountability Index, the Rights of Nature Index, the Future Generations Protection Index, the Climate Refugee Protection Index, and the Cosmic and Terrestrial Criminal Court Effectiveness Index—providing rigorous tools for measuring compliance and guiding reform. It proposes concrete institutions: a Cosmic Governance Authority, an Ocean Commons Authority, an International Ombudsman for Future Generations, and a Planetary Constitutional Court. Grounded in the principle that humanity holds the planet in trust for future generations, and that all life possesses intrinsic value independent of its utility to humans, this work offers not merely academic critique but a practical roadmap for implementation. It is declared open for scholarly engagement, legislative adaptation, and judicial application, permanently archived under DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23029470. The revolution in international law is not a choice; it is a necessity. And it begins now.
Author: el-rakhawi, mohamed kamal arafa
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214754294