International Law and Civil Wars: Intervention and Consent

1. The dynamics of consensual intervention -- 2. The concepts of intervention and internal armed conflict -- 3. The modalities of forcible intervention -- 4. Internal armed conflicts and consent in the war-prerogative era and effectiveness as a source of rights -- 5. Intervention and consent in the inter-war period and the fragmentation of traditional doctrines -- 6. The preference of governments : from dichotomy to rebuttable presumption -- 7. The scope of government consent power : general thresholds -- 8. From effective control over territory to effective protection of civilians -- 9. Consent power, democracy, human rights and self-determination -- 10. Consent by opposition groups : between recognition and humanitarian intervention ; between legality and legitimacy.

This book examines the international law of forcible intervention in civil wars, in particular the role of party-consent in affecting the legality of such intervention. In modern international law, it is a near consensus that no state can use force against another - the main exceptions being self-defence and actions mandated by a UN Security Council resolution. However, one more potential exception exists: forcible intervention undertaken upon the invitation or consent of a government, seeking assistance in confronting armed opposition groups within its territory. Although the latter