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Great legal traditions have shaped international law; they have also characterized major geopolitical units. These major legal systems struggle within international law, fighting or ignoring one another with a movement similar to tectonic plates—these plates keep sliding over the “magma of power.” The “schizo-American,” the “Kanto-European,” and the “Sino-sovereignist” plates are different from each other because of their conceptions of sovereignty. However, the confrontation of these plates will determine a changing international system in the 21st century. Within this context, the Kanto-European plate seems to be the most fragile.