Writers on the history of the law of nations, in dealing with neutralization as an accepted practice, have seldom given a satisfactory account of the development of the ideas underlying this unusual phenomenon in international law. They have, in general, been inclined to treat it in a rather
fragmentary manner; merely to note in passing certain scattered instances as of minor importance and to devote their major attention to the more outstanding occasions on which the European Powers have settled some given problem by the use of the formula of neutralization. It is thus rendered
exceedingly difficult to form an objective appraisal of the ideological forces back of the movement, or effectively to analyze and weigh the constituent elements entering into it. In consequence, the movement has for the most part escaped scientific evaluation.