Contemporary international political and legal environment

Although I have long admired the work of Justice Florentino Feliciano, I have met him only once. The meeting was, however, memorable because it provided a rare occasion where my professional and family lives crossed. As Justice Feliciano and I walked together after dinner in Annecy, in France on a beautiful summer evening in 1990, we discovered a common admiration, affection, and respect for Anita Magsaysay Ho, the distinguished Filipina painter who is also my aunt. We recalled my aunt's deep love for the Philippines and her strong portrayals of Filipina women at work. Therefore, by honouring Justice Feliciano, I hope to honour, in a small way, the beautiful land that he served and that I came to know through my aunt's eyes.

Flashed across the front pages of newspapers and magazines across the world, the image of a man dressed in a white shirt and black trousers facing down a tank on one of the main avenues of Beijing during the Chinese government's crackdown of the pro-democracy movement in June 1989 is one of the more memorable photos of that dramatic event. However, the photo also represents the convergence of several worldwide ‘patterns of conduct’ that emerged from the twentieth century with important implications for the international system of the twenty-first century. These include the personalization and internationalization of activities previously thought to be exclusively within the purview of states.