The Study is a still photograph of reality, taken with great concern for absolute honesty, that is, without trying to make the law say what one wishes it would say. I am convinced that this is what lends the study international credibility. But though it represents the truest possible reflection of reality, the study makes no claim to be the final word. It is not all-encompassing – choices had to be made – and no-one is infallible. In the introduction to De jure belli ac pacis, Grotius says this to his readers: ‘I beg and adjure all those into whose hands this work shall come, that they assume towards me the same liberty that I have assumed in passing upon the opinions and writings of others.’ What better way to express the objectives of those who have carried out this study? May it be read, discussed and commented on.