This book is based on an international project conducted by the Institute for European Studies
of the University CEU San Pablo in Madrid and a seminar on Vitoria and International Law which
took place on July 2nd 2015 in the convent of San Esteban the place where Vitoria spent his
most productive years as Chair of Theology at the University of Salamanca. It argues that
Vitoria not only lived at a time bridging the Middle Ages and Modernity but also that his
thoughts went beyond the times he lived in giving us inspiration for meeting current
challenges that could also be described as modern or even post-modern.There has been renewed
interest in Francisco de Vitoria in the last few years and he is now at the centre of a debate
on such central international topics as political modernity colonialism the discovery of the
Other and the legitimation of military interventions. All these subjects include Vitoria's
contributions to the formation of the idea of modernity and modern international law.The book
explores two concepts of modernity: one referring to the post-medieval ages and the other to
our times. It discusses the connections between the challenges that the New World posed for
XVIth century thinkers and those that we are currently facing for example those related to the
cyberworld. It also addresses the idea of international law and the legitimation of the use of
force two concepts that are at the core of Vitoria's texts in the context of modern problems
related to a multipolar world and the war against terrorism.This is not a historical book on
Vitoria but a very current one that argues the value of Vitoria's reflections for contemporary
issues of international law.
