International law loves stories of liberation. The idea of an emancipatory path humanity is constantly about to undertake and which will eventually lead to peace and prosperity is one that has long fascinated international lawyers too, and still keeps fascinating some. Yet, in the last three decades, international law has also come under the fierce attack of various kind of critiques – from postcolonial scholars to feminist studies and the historiographical ‘turn’ – which in different ways have called for a re-assessment of its ambiguous role in not-so-much emancipatory projects across times and spaces.