Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Legitimacy and the use of force: can the circle be squared?
- 2 Legality and legitimacy: the quest for principled flexibility and restraint
- 3 Not yet havoc: geopolitical change and the international rules on military force
- 4 Liberal hierarchy and the licence to use force
- 5 The age of liberal wars
- 6 Force, legitimacy, success and Iraq
- 7 War and international relations: a military historical perspective on force and legitimacy
- 8 The judgement of war: on the idea of legitimate force in world politics
- 9 Discourses of difference: civilians, combatants and compliance with the laws of wars
- 10 Fights about rules: the role of efficacy and power in changing multilateralism
- 11 Peacekeeping and enforcement action in Africa: the role of Europe and the obligations of multilateralism
- 12 Identity, legitimacy and the use of military force: Russia's Great Power identities and military intervention in Abkhazia
- 13 Dead or alive: American vengeance goes global
- Index
3 - Not yet havoc: geopolitical change and the international rules on military force
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Legitimacy and the use of force: can the circle be squared?
- 2 Legality and legitimacy: the quest for principled flexibility and restraint
- 3 Not yet havoc: geopolitical change and the international rules on military force
- 4 Liberal hierarchy and the licence to use force
- 5 The age of liberal wars
- 6 Force, legitimacy, success and Iraq
- 7 War and international relations: a military historical perspective on force and legitimacy
- 8 The judgement of war: on the idea of legitimate force in world politics
- 9 Discourses of difference: civilians, combatants and compliance with the laws of wars
- 10 Fights about rules: the role of efficacy and power in changing multilateralism
- 11 Peacekeeping and enforcement action in Africa: the role of Europe and the obligations of multilateralism
- 12 Identity, legitimacy and the use of military force: Russia's Great Power identities and military intervention in Abkhazia
- 13 Dead or alive: American vengeance goes global
- Index
Summary
‘Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war’
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene IIntroduction
This article considers the relationship between geopolitical change and the evolving international rules on military force. Its focus is the impact of the United States’ rise to hegemonic status on the rules governing recourse to force (the jus ad bellum) and the conduct of hostilities (the jus in bello, otherwise known as ‘international humanitarian law’). For reasons of space and clarity of analysis, the article does not focus on the different, more traditional IR questions of whether and why the behaviour of the United States might be constrained by these rules.
Two specific sets of rules are examined: the right of self-defence and the rules governing the treatment of detainees. The article concludes that geopolitical change frequently leads to normative change, though on some issues – such as pre-emptive self-defence – even a hegemonic state cannot change international law on its own. The challenge facing the international community is to maintain rules on military action that are reasonable, effective and widely accepted – including by the most powerful state, at least most of the time.
Self-defence
The right of self-defence in contemporary international law dates back to 1837, when the British were crushing a rebellion in Upper Canada (now Ontario). The United States, while unwilling to antagonise a superpower by supporting the rebels directly, did not prevent a private militia from being formed in up-state New York. The ‘volunteers’ used a steamboat, the Caroline, to transport arms and men to the rebel headquarters on Navy Island, on the Canadian side of the Niagara River.
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- Force and Legitimacy in World Politics , pp. 51 - 70Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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