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The Manley O. Hudson Lecture: Why Regime Change is (Almost Always) A Bad Idea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

W. Michael Reisman
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Extract

Every impulse to protect the weak and help the infirm is noble. The impulse to use the means at our disposal to liberate a people from a government that poses no imminent or prospective threat to us, but is so despotic, violent, and vicious that those suffering under it cannot shake it off, is also noble. The action that gives effect to that impulse may sometimes be internationally lawful. It may sometimes be feasible. It is often—but not always— misconceived.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 98 , Issue 3 , July 2004 , pp. 516 - 525
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2004

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References

1 In this discussion, I do not consider regime change ancillary to a lawful self-defense action. On this, see Michael Reisman, W., Assessing Claims to Revise the Laws of War, 97 AJIL 82 (2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 See, e.g., UN Charter Arts. 1(2), 2(1), 2(7); cf. General Assembly Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation Among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, GA Res. 2625, UN GAOR, 25th Sess., Supp. No. 28, at 121, 123, 124, UN Doc. A/8082 (1970).

3 UN Charter Art. 2(7).

4 Prosecutor v. Taylor, No. SCSL-2003–01-I (Special Ct. Sierra Leone Mar. 7, 2003) (indictment), available at <http://www.sc-sl.org>.

5 Prosecutor v. Milošević, No. IT-99–37 (Int’l Crim. Trib. Former Yugo. May 22, 1999) (indictment), available at <http://www.un.org/icty/>.

6 Annan, Kofi A., Two Concepts of Sovereignty, Economist, Sept. 18, 1999, at 49, 49, available at <http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/kaecon.htm>Google Scholar.

7 SC Res. 253, UN SCOR, 23d Sess., Res. & Dec, at 5, UN Doc. S/INF/23/Rev.l (1968).

8 SC Res. 940, UN SCOR, 49th Sess., Res. & Dec, at 51, UN Doc. S/INF/50 (1994).

9 SC Res. 1378 (Nov. 14, 2001), 41 ILM 505 (2002).

10 Res. II (June 23, 1979), adopted at the 17th Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, OEA/Ser.F/II, doc. 40/79, rev.2.

11 AG/RES.990 (XIX-0/89) (Nov. 18, 1989), 1 OAS GA Proc, 19th Sess., at35, OEA/Ser.P/XIX.0.2 (1989).

12 See Arnold, Anthony, Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion in Perspective (rev. ed. 1985)Google Scholar.

13 See GA Res. ES–6/2 (Jan. 14, 1980) (the General Assembly consistently condemned the Soviet invasion).

14 UN SCOR, 34th Sess., 2110th mtg. at 7, UN Doc. S/PV.2110 (1979).

15 See generally 1979 UN Y.B. 271–95, UN Sales No. E.82.I.1.

16 1982 UN Y.B. 428–32, UN Sales No. E.85.I.1.

17 I am not analyzing Cold War regime changes, like the Kennedy administration’s abortive invasion of Cuba in 1961, which sought to replace the Castro government; or the Johnson administration’s invasion of the Dominican Republic to reverse a popular coup and install a government led by its perennial president, Joaquín Balaguer; or the Reagan administration’s invasion of Grenada to suppress a coup that was accomplished by murdering an elected leader; or the Soviet Union’s various regime changes in Central Europe; or China’s in Tibet. It is impossible to extract many of these incidents from the distortions that the Cold War inflicted on international law.

18 Churchill, Winston S., The Aftermath 243 (1929)Google Scholar.

19 Dennett, Tyler, John Hay: From Poetry to Politics 381 (1933)Google Scholar (quoting Lyman Abbott, Reminiscences 139–40(1915)).

20 Annan, Kofi, Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations (Sept. 23, 2003), available at <http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=494&issue_id=35>>Google Scholar.

21 Supplement to an Agenda for Peace, UN Doc. A/50/60-S/1995/1, para. 77, available at <http://vmvi.vm.org/documents/secretariat.htm>

22 Id., paras. 23, 24.

23 Secretary-General’s Statement on NATO Military Action Against Yugoslavia, UN Press Release SG/SM/6938 (Mar. 24, 1999), available in lexis, News Library, Wire Service File (Mar. 25, 1999).

24 Secretary-General Presents His Annual Report to General Assembly, UN Press Release SG/SM/7136, GA/9596 (Sept. 20, 1999).

25 Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America 642 (J. P. Mayer ed., George Lawrence trans., Perennial Classics 2000) (1835, 1840).

26 The reasons necessitating such action may include massive AIDS epidemics that cause the breakdown of internal order, posing external threats as well as internal human rights crises.

27 Powell, Colin L., U.S. Forces: Challenges Ahead, Foreign Aff., Winter 1992, at 32, excerpts available at <http://www.pbs.6rg/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/military/force/powell.html>CrossRefGoogle Scholar.