Conclusion 483
are disguised or donning new costumes or brandishing new scripts, may be
enhanced. Th e purpose of history (or at least of this one) is not to predict the
future. To revert to a nautical meta phor, the exploration of the past cannot
enable us to predict the destination of the voyage or even the route traveled.
But it can— more loosely— improve our ability to navigate, by making us
more sensitive to landmarks, currents, or changes of atmosphere.
Th ere are few subjects to match international law for giving fresh perspec-
tives on the events and headlines of day- to- day life. But even more
remarkable— and drastically underchronicled— has been the age- old attempt
of homo juridicus, throughout history, to bring something like a rule of law
to bear on the tumultuous hurly- burly of interstate relations. If readers are
moved to be more curious about and aware of international law than they
were before— and that includes the international lawyers themselves— then
this all- too- rapid journey through the centuries will have been a success.