Governing the Use-Of-Force in International Relations: The Post-9/11 US Challenge on International Law

ISBN-13: 9781137411433 / Angielski / Twarda / 2014 / 234 str.

Aiden Warren; Ingvild Bode

Opis

This book examines US recourse to military force in the post-9/11 era. In particular, it evaluates the extent to which the Bush and Obama administrations viewed legitimizing the greater use-of-force as a necessary solution to thwart the security threat presented by global terrorist networks and WMD proliferation. The Bush administration's use-of-force policy centered on advocating preemptive self-defence options, which were really preventive in nature. For example, it is argued that they responded to potential long-term threats based on ambiguous evidence. Central to this cloaking of preventive options in the more legitimate language of preemptive self-defence was an expanded notion of what counts as an imminent threat. Despite the Obama administration's avowal to multilateralism and professed US adherence to global norms, it did not expressly reject his predecessor's reasoning on the preemptive/preventive use-of-force. Indeed, the Administration's counter-terrorist campaign against Al Qaeda and in particular its drone program made the use-of-force in self-defence a widespread, regular, even commonplace occurrence during Obama's tenure. Despite being positioned at different points on the political spectrum, the book therefore concludes that Bush and Obama have chosen a remarkably similar approach towards expanding the use-of-force in self-defence.

Recenzje

'This well-written volume is a timely reminder that the attitude of the greatest military power on earth towards the legal regime on the use of force remains as relevant today as it has ever been. Highly recommended for all those seeking to understand how hegemonic powers conduct their foreign relations as well as for those wanting to keeping abreast of ongoing contestation surrounding the interpretation of the Charter provisions on use-of-force.' - Shirley Scott, University of New South Wales, Australia

'Continuity or change? This accessible, salutary, timely and engaging account of American engagement with the rules on the use of force, under Bush and Obama, offers vital insights at a time of obvious and increasing challenge.' - Philippe Sands, University College London, UK

'Warren and Bode have produced a timely, well-written book that documents the continuity that defined the United States' approach to international law and the use-of-force over the last decade. It should be required reading for anyone interested in foreign policy and international relations but more generally for anyone with an interest in how the world has operated since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.' - Sarah Kreps, Cornell University, US

Spis treści

Introduction 1. The International Legal Paradigm: The UN Charter jus ad bellum Regime 2. Self-Defence in International Law: Pre-emptive/Preventive Requisites 3. Preventive and Pre-emptive Self-Defence in US National Security Policy: A Brief History 4. Bush and the Use-of-Force 5. Obama and the Use-of-Force 6. The Rise of Drones Conclusion – The Use-of-Force and the Making of Hegemonic International Law: from Bush to Obama

O autorze

Aiden Warren is Senior Lecturer in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. His research interests are in the areas of International Security, US national security and foreign policy, US Politics, International Relations, and issues associated with Weapons of Mass Destruction, proliferation, non-proliferation and arms control. He is the author of The Obama Administration's Nuclear Weapon Strategy: the Promises of Prague and Prevention, Pre-emption and the Nuclear Option: From Bush to Obama.

Ingvild Bode is JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute for Sustainability and Peace at the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan. Her research interests are in the areas of understanding individual agency, norm and policy change at the UN, international humanitarian law and the United Nations system. She is the co-author of Key Concepts in International Relations (with Thomas Diez and Aleksandra Fernandes da Costa).