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Why Regime Change is (Almost Always) a Bad Idea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2017

W. Michael Reisman
W. Michael Reisman*
Affiliation:
Myres S. McDougal of International Law, Yale Law School
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Abstract

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Type
Manley O. Hudson Medal Lecture
Information
Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting , Volume 98 , 2004 , pp. 290 - 299
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2004

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References

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

2 See, e.g., UN Charter Arts. 24, 26, 39; General Assembly Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations, G.A. Res. 2526, 25 UN GAOR Supp. (No. 28) at 121, 123, 124, UN Doc. A/8028 (1970). See also Reisman, W. Michael, Old Wine in New Bottles: The Reagan and Brezhnev Doctrines in Contemporary International Law and Practice, 13 Yale. J. Int’l L. 171, 191-97 (1988)Google Scholar.

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

4 Prosecutor v. Milosevic, Case No. IT-99-37 (Int’l Crim. Trib. for the Former Yugoslavia, May 22, 1999) (indictment), available at <http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mil-ii990524e.htm>.

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

6 S. Res. 253, UN SCOR, 1428th mtg. at 5-7, UN Doc. S/Res. 253 (1968).

7 S. Res. 940, UN SCOR, 3413th mtg. at 2, UN Doc. S/Res. 940 (1994).

8 S. Res. 1378, UN SCOR, 4415th mtg. at 2, UN Doc. S/Res. 1378 (2001).

9 Res. II, June 23, 1979, adopted at the 17th Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, OEA/Ser.F/I I, doc. 40/79, Rev.2.

10 See Shirley Christian, Nicaragua: Revolution in the Family (1985).

11 AG/RES 990/89.

12 AG/RES. 990 (XLX-0/89) Nov. 18, 1989.

13 See 34 UN GAOR at 2, UN Doc. E.S. 6/2 (1980) (The General Assembly consistently condemned the Soviet invasion.)

14 1982 UN Y. B. 428, UN Sales No. E.85.1.1.

15 I am not analyzing Cold War regime changes, such as 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 the perennial President 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.

16 Winston S. Churchill, The Aftermath 243-44 (1929).

17 Tyler Dennett, John Hay: From Poetry to Politics 381 (1933).

18 Available at <http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id’494&issue_id’35>.

19 Supplement to an Agenda for Peace, Position Paper of the Secretary-General on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations, UN Doc. A/50/60-S/1995/1, para. 77 (Jan. 3, 1995).

20 Id. at para. 23.

21 Secretary General’s Statement on NATO Military Action Against Yugoslavia, M2 Press WIRE (Mar. 25, 1999), available at Lexis, Market Library, Iacnws File.

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

23 Alexis De Tocqueville, Democracy in America (George Lawrence, trans.) 642 (2000).

24 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.

25 Colin L. Powell, US Forces: Challenges Ahead, 71 Foreign Aff. 32 (1992), available at <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/rrontline/shows/military/force/powell.html>.