From the analysis in the last chapter, it is evident that changes in the normative system do not always, and indeed often do not, immediately produce commensurate changes in the operating system. That could leave the two systems temporarily, or perhaps permanently, in imbalance. The result is that actors might not comply fully with rules, the rights of other actors could be unprotected, and remedies for violations of norms might not be available or are precluded.

Is the international legal system doomed to suboptimality? In a closed system, all interactions are endogenous and any regulation must come from the interactions inside the system. Such systems often have little adaptive ability, at least in the short term, because they cannot draw upon external resources or mechanisms when things go wrong. For example, computer software and platforms without the capacity for data sharing have largely atrophied in favor of more permeable systems. As we indicated in Chapter 2, however, the international legal system and its component parts are embedded in the broader international relations system. Accordingly, this open system is subject to influence from external forces; indeed, the political shocks necessary to systemic change are just one example of how external factors influence international law. Just as those influences can prompt change in the operating and normative systems, so too might external factors affect the implementation of the normative proscriptions and prescriptions and, by doing so, provide the international legal system with added adaptive capacity.