Abstract
The modern period is of great importance in the history of interna-tional law. The modern era is the period of the Renaissance of education, science and culture. During this period, new industry relations emerge, which led to the emer-gence of a qualitatively different nature of social relations. During this period of the European Enlightenment, a Eurocentric world is being formed. In the modern period, the interpretation of the concept of “the law of peoples (nations)” is significantly changing, the concept of international law is being strengthened. The legal thought of the modern period is studied in the form of the history of international law, its the-oretical concepts. The following article examines a number of well-known representatives of legal thought who have become prominent figures in the history of legal thought and the history of international law. International law during this period develops under the influence of both natural and positive law. The author examines the views of repre-sentatives of the natural and positive law approaches in the study of international law. The struggle between natural and positive law principles in international law in the 18th-19th centuries had a great influence on the development of common European le-gal understanding, which was then expressed in European law. The state-legal theory, the theory of external state law, the nihilistic trend, the dualistic theory of the relationship between international and domestic law are also reviewed.