Justice has been served (sort of)…a tad late, but the Marshall Islands have put in motion some interesting legal proceedings. The islands have officially filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice against the United States and the eight other nuclear counties in the world.

Even though the Marshall Islands is not a country that comes to mind when thinking of an international law enforcer, when it comes to nuclear laws and regulation they have a special claim. Experiencing 67 nuclear tests over 12 years, the Marshall Islands have experienced the disasters of nuclear testing, which has directly affected the lives of their citizens and environment. Their attempt at wrangling world superpowers into the international law is admirable but ultimately futile. By grouping nine countries together the likelihood of getting all the countries to scale down their nuclear programs is next to impossible. Attempting to reinforce a non-nuclear norm will ultimately fail because the self-interest of individual nations trumps one small nations, rather legitimate, claim that expanding nuclear disasters is just inviting disaster. The only true possibility of denuclearization ultimately lies in the powerful countries not a comparatively insignificant nation like the Marshall Islands. Possibly, strong nations leading by example will send a message to others that denuclearization is a serious commitment that world leaders are willing to take.

The power dynamics involved in this situation parallel, to me, the burgeoning crisis in Ukraine. The situation there is a political disaster that is threatening the peace in the region. Much like the Marshall Islands, Ukraine has attempted to influence a world power, Russia, through international discourse, to little effect. Unfortunately in both of these situations I feel that the upper hand clearly lies with the world powers. Regardless of whether or not results are attempted via international courts and norms like the Marshall Islands, the best bet in situations like the lawsuit and in Ukraine is for these weaker states to court a truly influential state for support. Frankly, it is too soon to tell for both the nuclear litigation and the Ukrainian Crisis. Hopefully, one day the international institutions will be strong enough to allow for actual equality for weaker states struggling to influence the world. Whether it is the potential for nuclear disaster that the Marshall Islands fear or the expansion of a political disaster into open war that Ukraine fears, for now it seems as though the answers to those uncertainties lie in the hands of the powerful.