 With the exception of this particular natural law tradition, proponents of the absolute conception of sovereignty have generally been viewed as “deniers of the “Law of Nations”” (Hinsley 1986: 184). The criticism is that there can be no international law unless it is accepted that, on some matters at least, states must be irrevocably subject to an authority other than their own; the possibility of subjection to an external authority must be viewed as a necessary requirement for even minimal international law.