The re-emergence of the issue of conquest of territory is one of the most contentious debates surrounding contemporary international law. This article investigates certain developments in respect territorial conquests and the reaction of the international community to such acts. There is analysis of the key relationship between conquest and empire and speculates on the possibility that the re-emergence of conquest is further evidence that international society is reverting to a previous incarnation whereby Great Power politics is assuming its former pre-eminence, at the expense of the rules-based system which emerged after the Second World War. The article places conquest within the wider context of international law whilst discussing historical occurrences and contemporary instances.

中文翻译：

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征服的重新出现：国际法和合法使用武力

征服领土问题的重新出现是围绕当代国际法最具争议的辩论之一。本文调查了领土征服方面的某些发展以及国际社会对此类行为的反应。对征服与帝国之间的关键关系进行了分析，并推测征服的重新出现的可能性进一步证明国际社会正在恢复到以前的化身，即大国政治以牺牲为代价取得了以前的优势二战后出现的以规则为基础的制度。本文在讨论历史事件和当代事例的同时，将征服置于更广泛的国际法背景下。