International law, as we know it, increasingly fails to deal with contemporary global challenges. Power relations prevail in this multipolar world. Disciplines on climate change under the UNFCCC and the 2015 Paris Accord remain weak; multilateral rules on migration beyond refugee law are virtually non-existent. Combating global pollution in effective ways, in particular of the global commons and protecting biodiversity, has been failing. Developing countries often pay the price and are not sufficiently supported in the process of climate adaptation. The financial crisis and the great recession have brought about a widespread renaissance of nationalism. The same holds true for the global coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in 2020, despite the fact that it is recognised as a public health emergency of international concern under WHO international health regulations. Remedies to challenges, if at all, are primarily sought on the level of the nation state or regional integration in Europe, often without much success due to extensive interdependence of value chains in a globalised economy. Trade sanctions are being unilaterally imposed in trade war disrespecting all legal disciplines of the multilateral trading system of the World Trade Organization, much to the detriment of consumers who pay additional and penalising taxes on products.