Is international law effective at maintaining peaceful relations among nations, protecting mutual interests, and/or punishing wrong doings?

I think the International Law is not effective at maintaining peaceful relations among nations, protecting mutual interests, and or punishing wrong doings. For one, it does not have a government unlike any country to mediate. It can be very difficult to resolve issues especially that countries can contest or protest. It has also been a challenge in enforcing punishments.

Ongoing civil wars western roman empire finally collapsed476 c.e. romulus, the last of theroman  emperors in  the west, was overthrown by the germanic leader odoacer, who became the first barbarian to rule in rome. the order that the  roman empire  had brought towestern  europe for 1000 years was no more.