The author pursues, on historic lines, an estimation of the extent of legal prohibition of the use of force by states. He includes the deliberations and findings of political organs of the League of Nations and the United Nations, as well as a study of the quality of prohibition of force.

This book explores the whole of the large and controversial subject of the use of force in international law; it examines not only the use of force by states but also the role of the UN in peacekeeping and enforcement action, and the growing importance of regional organizations in the maintenance of international peace and security. Since the publication of the second edition of International Law and the Use of Force the law in this area has continued to undergo a fundamental reappraisal. Operation Enduring Freedom carries on against Al Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan six years after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Can this still be justified as self-defense in the 'war on terror'? Is there now a wide right of pre-emptive self-defense against armed attacks by non-state actors? The 2006 Israel/Lebanon conflict and the recent intervention of Ethiopia in Somalia raise questions about whether the 'war on terror' has brought major changes in the law on self-defense and on regime change. The 2003 invasion of Iraq gave rise to serious divisions between states as to the legality of this use of force and to talk of a crisis of collective security for the UN. In response the UN initiated major reports on the future of the Charter system; these rejected amendment of the Charter provisions on the use of force. They also rejected any right of pre-emptive self-defense. They advocated a 'responsibility to protect' in cases of genocide or massive violations of human rights; the events in Darfur show the practical difficulties with the implementation of such a duty.

When the United Nations Charter was adopted in 1945, states established a legal `paradigm' for regulating the recourse to armed force. In the years since then, however, significant developments have challenged the paradigm's validity, causing a `pardigmatic shift'. International Law and the Use of Force traces this shift and explores its implications for contemporary international law and practice.

Since the adoption of the UN Charter in 1945, the use of cross-border force has been frequent. This volume invites a range of experts to examine over sixty conflicts, from military interventions to targeted killings and hostage rescue operations, and to ask how powerful precedent can be in determining hostile encounters in international law.

The Use of Force and International Law offers an authoritative overview of international law governing the resort to force. Looking through the prism of the contemporary challenges that this area of international law faces, including technology, sovereignty, actors, compliance and enforcement, this book addresses key aspects of international law in this area: the general breadth and scope of the prohibition of force, what is meant by 'force', the use of force through the UN and regional organisations, the use of force in peacekeeping operations, the right of self-defence and the customary limitations upon this right, forcible intervention in civil conflicts, the controversial doctrine of humanitarian intervention. Suitable for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, academics and practitioners, The Use of Force and International Law offers a contemporary, comprehensive and accessible treatment of the subject.

The nations that drafted the UN Charter in 1945 clearly were more concerned about peace than about justice. As a result, the Charter prohibits all use of force by states except in the event of an armed attack or when authorised by the Security Council. This arrangement has only very imperfectly withstood the test of time and changing world conditions. In requiring states not to use force in self-defence until after they had become the object of an actual armed attack, the Charter failed to address a growing phenomenon of clandestine subversion and of instantaneous nuclear threats. Fortunately although the Charter is very hard to amend, the drafters did agree that it should be interpreted flexibly by the United Nations' principal political institutions. In this way the norms governing use of force in international affairs have been adapted to meet changing circumstances and new challenges. The book also relates these changes in law and practice to changing public values pertaining to the balance between maintaining peace and promoting justice.

Now available as an eBook for the first time, this 2006 book from the Melland Schill series considers the main legal issues concerning the use of force by international organisations and states. It assesses the achievements and failures of the United Nations' collective security system, and discusses the prospects ahead. It also deals with the use of force by states in self-defence and on other legal grounds. The book discusses to what extent the rules on the use of force have evolved since the end of the Cold War in order to meet the needs of the international community. It focuses in particular on the military operations directed against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The research is developed from the standpoint of the sources of international law. It rejects a static vision of the rules on the use of force, including those enshrined in the UN Charter. Rather, it highlights the interaction between conventional and customary international law and the exposure of both sources to state practice.