The interest of this paper is to evaluate the relations between international law, war and foreign policy through the lens of the concept of lawfare. These relations are examined mainly through their observation in the relations between Nicaragua and its neighbours. The author analyses and explains the different notions of international law advanced by international relations theory, and the limitations of these notions; the use of lawfare as a strategy to substitute warfare in the case of Nicaragua. By using Charles Dunlap’s concept, this paper seeks to demonstrate that lawfare explains some relations between law, war and international relations that classical theories cannot. Additionally it explains the actions of Nicaragua and its uses of international law.
