Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Table of treaties under international law
- Table of cases
- List of Acronyms
- Introduction
- Part I A constructivist theory of international law
- Part II The definition of a legitimate target of attack in international law
- Part III An empirical study of international law in war
- Part IV An evaluation of international law in war
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Appendix
- Index
Part III - An empirical study of international law in war
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Table of treaties under international law
- Table of cases
- List of Acronyms
- Introduction
- Part I A constructivist theory of international law
- Part II The definition of a legitimate target of attack in international law
- Part III An empirical study of international law in war
- Part IV An evaluation of international law in war
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Appendix
- Index
Summary
An empirical study of international law in war
‘Daunting’ is what a group of prominent IR scholars more than ten years ago considered the task of exploring whether compliance with law has ‘a net effect’ on behaviour. The discipline has since largely failed to theorise about how law can emerge from underlying interests or normative beliefs. Studies that attempt to empirically disentangle the impact of these prior reasons for action and the influence of IL on behaviour are equally rare. Part I addressed the theoretical desideratum and proposed a theory of how recourse to IL can afford a counterfactual added value; a theory of IL’s behavioural relevance. The following chapters test this theory and take on the redoubtable business of investigating whether, in fact, IHL has a counterfactual effect on target selection in US air warfare. Does the legal definition of a legitimate target of attack make a difference for how US military decision-makers define a legitimate target?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Legitimate Targets?Social Construction, International Law and US Bombing, pp. 143 - 144Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014