This essay explores the issue of international norms with specialreference to the values of order and justice, while examining criticalprinciples like state sovereignty. In so doing from a theoretical andhistorical perspective, it illustrates the normative tasks of the contemporaryworld that Peace Studies will face in the 21^st century. First, the essaypoints to the academic dichotomy between realism and idealism as regards theissue of international norms, and provides a third “Grotian” view articulatedby the English School. The view seeks to reconcile or balance the tensionbetween order and justice, while recognizing the importance of both. In thesecond section, the essay analyzes the characteristics of international normsin the Middle Ages, the early modern period, and the nineteenth century. In themodern era the principle of sovereignty appeared to be the commanding norm togive the sovereign state a power to determine the contents of order andjustice. The third section deals with the transformation of international normsin the 20^th century. It illuminates illegality of war on the onehand and the room for exceptional legitimate use of force. The perception of international society as a whole is claimed to be a critical milestone for such a newframework for international norms to identify international order andinternational justice. The fourth section looks at international incidentsafter the end of the Cold War that are relevant to international norms. Whileobserving elements to reinforce the trend in the 20^th century, theessay also finds the development of international humanitarian and human rightsnorms in the 1990s that have enriched the contents of international justice.When it comes to the issue of humanitarian intervention that representstensions between order and justice in the contemporary world, the essay arguesthat international society respects the balance between order and justice.