Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Law and legal process in international affairs
- 2 The status of international law under US law
- 3 UN dues
- 4 Use of force
- 5 Arms control, disarmament, nonproliferation, and safeguards
- 6 The law of the sea
- 7 The International Court of Justice
- 8 Prevention, prosecution, and punishment of international crimes
- 9 Human rights and international environmental issues
- 10 Summary and conclusions, and some possible future scenarios
- Index
4 - Use of force
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Law and legal process in international affairs
- 2 The status of international law under US law
- 3 UN dues
- 4 Use of force
- 5 Arms control, disarmament, nonproliferation, and safeguards
- 6 The law of the sea
- 7 The International Court of Justice
- 8 Prevention, prosecution, and punishment of international crimes
- 9 Human rights and international environmental issues
- 10 Summary and conclusions, and some possible future scenarios
- Index
Summary
Use of Force: A Brief Background
As Article 1(1) and (2) of the UN Charter state, the primary purposes of the United Nations are:
1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
and
2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace.
Moreover, as I have noted elsewhere, “[t]he ‘law’ on the use of force that has developed through the United Nations is substantial indeed.” The focus in this chapter is on the jus ad bellum (the recourse to force) rather than on the jus in bello (the conduct of combatants in armed conflict). Aside from a parenthetical reference or two, this chapter does not discuss jus in bello issues.
Elsewhere, also, I have discussed the jus ad bellum in considerable detail. There will be no effort to reprise this discussion in this chapter.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The United States and the Rule of Law in International Affairs , pp. 142 - 206Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004