The twentieth century in which an estimated 190 million people were killed
or allowed to die (in man-made famines, for example) by non-natural
means was the bloodiest in human history. Amidst the horrors of the
holocaust and Hiroshima, the not infrequent genocides and the atrocities of
the Soviet gulag (to mention only the worst of the century's excesses), there
were, however, some hopeful and positive developments. Paradoxically,
some of these were in the realm of international law where, for example, the
principle of self-determination was universally recognised resulting in the
decolonisation of Asia and Africa, a process which largely culminated in
the end of apartheid in our own country.

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