Suchergebnisse

It is contended that certain nations' and international organizations' inconsistent adherence to United Nations Security Council resolutions possesses deleterious consequences for existing international law and order. The US is strongly critiqued for invoking various Security Council resolutions to defend the US-led attacks against Iraq; indeed, several difficulties with the US's interpretation of Security Council resolutions and the United Nations Charter are highlighted. The question of whether the absence of Security Council support for the US-led attacks against Iraq illuminates the body's incapacity to promote security or exemplifies its position on the attacks is then considered. Attention is subsequently directed toward exploring the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's and the US-led coalition's contention that developments that require humanitarian intervention or pre-emptive self-defense should override Security Council resolutions and United Nations Charter; it is asserted that such situations require international attention but that international law should not be abandoned in addressing humanitarian crises or justifying self-defense. Consequently, the formation and observance of universally accepted international law are stressed.

In 2002 the US expanded Article 51 of the UN Charter to include the right of self-defense to prevent hostile attacks. In light of the changing security imperatives, the adequacy of international law on self-defense is examined, citing the 183 Caroline Case and Nicaragua vs. USA. Preemptive self-defense is assumed in customary international law, but the UN Charter excluded it as destabilizing. The line between preemptory and responsive is a matter of interpretation, and action may be so preemptory as to not be self-defense but preventive war. It is argued that alternatives to Article 51 have not yet been devised and that the Article already provides sufficiently flexible guidance for new threats and challenges like Al-Qaeda. Self-defense against non-state actors and new technologies are discussed.