Passage:
Recent scholarship on 19th-century customary international law increasingly emphasizes the role of non-state actors, particularly transnational merchant networks. Traditional models posited that customary law emerged solely from the consistent practices of sovereign states acting out of a sense of legal obligation. However, the rapid standardization of maritime trade practices prior to their codification in formal treaties suggests that merchants, not states, were the primary generators of legal normativity. Because state naval forces frequently enforced these merchant-created standards—even in instances where they conflicted with existing state directives—it is evident that state apparatuses were merely recognizing, rather than creating, the binding character of these customary norms.
Statement:
The author's argument logically depends on the assumption that 19th-century state naval forces did not enforce merchant-created maritime standards primarily to advance their own independent strategic or military interests.
Answer: Answer