Preventive Action by Military Means: A Contested Approach

In: Global society: journal of interdisciplinary international relations, Band 20, Heft 1, S. 69-86

Abstract

Conflict prevention has become a fashionable term again but with varied & confusing meanings for academics & the policy community. It raises the issue of the use & justification of coercive power including military intervention. The United States has embraced the notion of preventive action as an entry point for military pre-emption. This is formulated in the National Security Strategy of 2002 in which the move is from deterrence to protection. The EU (& Russia), while hesitant in embracing it, does not reject prevention, military pre-emption & the move to protection outright in the Solana doctrine. This is leading to differences between the more interventionist powers in the EU (eg, Britain & France) & those with a more pacifist neutral tradition. Adapted from the source document.