Martti Koskenniemi maked two arguments against the idea of jus cogens. First, Koskenniemi argues that peremptory norms are a form of “kitsch”, a false universalism, based in a particular European tradition (international law), which provides the international lawyer with a series of ideas that allows him or her to achieve a “nostalgic feel for an abstract mankind” and to ignore the very real problems and divisions that exist in the world. For Koskenniemi, peremptory norms refer to nothing factual in this world except for the longing on the part of international lawyers that there be such a thing. Koskenniemi’s second criticism is that such concepts, as jus cogens and human rights are nothing more than a “hegemonic manoeuvre” on the part of