| Summary/Abstract |
This article looks at the positioning and role of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in relation to Public International Law, and how the OIC has sought to resolve two competing tensions: first, the defence and better promotion of the interests of generally Muslim States on the secular global stage; and second, effective representation of the interests of Muslims globally, following the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate after the end of the First World War. The study is historical, contextual, and is written from a TWAIL perspective. It uses the case study of human rights to illustrate how historical tensions exacerbated by colonial structures through the frameworks of International Law have been resolved by a subordinated, Third World international organisation, and the state interests those resolutions have favoured. The article is partially descriptive, in response to the relative silence and lack of academic interest in the workings of the OIC. But it is also normative - an attempt to draw out a more pluralist, participative and inclusive form of Public International Law which, in traditional formulations, have and continue to marginalise the religious and Muslim voice.
|