As shown in the case of Attila the Hun, and his thirst for power, property, and personal prestige, nation states throughout the world, particularly in Asia and Europe, have, since ancient times, been vulnerable to invasion by other nation states and bands of looters from outside their borders. Terrorism’s progress into the modern day has caused extreme concern among members of the international community, who now accept that it is like a cancer that refuses to localize itself within any single organ of the body, but seeks to spread its lethality throughout, even if that means destroying itself along with the host. The fight against terrorism is long and complex, but the end is known in advance. Terrorists are defending a lost cause, and their defeat is inevitable, and democracy, freedom, and diplomacy will triumph.

This book explores 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 increasing role of regional organizations in the maintenance of international peace and security. The UN Charter framework is under challenge. Russia's invasion of Georgia and intervention in Ukraine, the USA's military operations in Syria, and Saudi Arabia's campaign to restore the government of Yemen by force all raise questions about the law on intervention. The 'war on terror' that began after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the USA has not been won. It has spread far beyond Afghanistan: it has led to targeted killings in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, and to intervention against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Is there an expanding right of self-defence against non-state actors? Is the use of force effective? The development of nuclear weapons by North Korea has reignited discussion about the legality of pre-emptive self-defence. The NATO-led operation in Libya increased hopes for the implementation of 'responsibility to protect', but it also provoked criticism for exceeding the Security Council's authorization of force because its outcome was regime change. UN peacekeeping faces new challenges, especially with regard to the protection of civilians, and UN forces have been given revolutionary mandates in several African states. But the 2015 report Uniting Our Strengths reaffirmed that UN peacekeeping is not suited to counter-terrorism or enforcement operations; the UN should turn to regional organizations such as the African Union as first responders in situations of ongoing armed conflict.

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.

This volume of essays examines the development of political and legal thinking regarding the use of force in international relations. It provides an analysis of the rules on the use of force in the political, normative and factual contexts within which they apply and assesses their content and relevance in the light of new challenges such as terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and cyber-attacks. The volume begins with an overview of the ancient and medieval concepts of war and the use of force and then concentrates on the contemporary legal framework regulating the use of force as moulded by the United Nations Charter and state practice. In this regard it discusses specific issues such as the use of force by way of self-defence, armed reprisals, forcible reactions to terrorism, the use of force in the cyberspace, humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect. This collection of previously published classic research articles is of interest to scholars and students of international law and international relations as well as practitioners in international law.

The international law on the use of force is one of the oldest branches of international law. It is an area twinned with the emergence of international law as a concept in itself, and which sees law and politics collide. The number of armed conflicts is equal only to the number of methodological approaches used to describe them. Many violent encounters are well known. The Kosovo Crisis in 1999 and the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 spring easily to the minds of most scholars and academics, and gain extensive coverage in this text. Other conflicts, including the Belgian operation in Stanleyville, and the Ethiopian Intervention in Somalia, are often overlooked to our peril. Ruys and Corten's expert-written text compares over sixty different instances of the use of cross border force since the adoption of the UN Charter in 1945, from all out warfare to hostile encounters between individual units, targeted killings, and hostage rescue operations, to ask a complex question. How much authority does the power of precedent really have in the law of the use of force?

In the post '9/11' legal and political environment, Islam and Muslims have been associated with terrorism. Islamic civilization has increasingly been characterized as backward, insular, stagnant and unable to deal with the demands of the twenty first century and differences and schisms between Islam and the west are being perceived as monumental and insurmountable. '9/11' terrorist attacks have unfortunately provided vital ammunition to the critics of Islam and those who champion a 'clash of civilizations'. In this original and incisive study, the author investigates the relationship between Islamic law, States practices and International terrorism. It presents a detailed analysis of the sources of Islamic law and reviews the concepts of Jihad, religious freedom and minority rights within Sharia and Siyar. In eradicating existing misconceptions, the book provides a thorough commentary of the contributions made by Islamic States in the development of international law, including norms on the prohibition of terrorism. It presents a lucid debate on such key issues within classical and modern Islamic State practices as diplomatic immunities, prohibitions on hostage-taking, aerial and maritime terrorism, and the financing of terrorism. The book surveys the unfairness and injustices within international law - a legal system dominated and operated at the behest of a select band of powerful States. It forewarns that unilateralism and the undermining of human rights values in the name of the 'war on terrorism' is producing powerful reactions within Muslim States: the 'new world order' presents a dangerous prognosis of the self-fulfilling prophecy of an inevitable 'clash of civilizations' between the Islamic world and the west.

Although at the start of the 21st century bioterrorism was newly feared by the public at large, it is one threat that institutions have attempted to anticipate for years. Originally published in 2003, and now with a new introduction, this unique 2-volume collection provides a multi-disciplinary resource on the challenges bioterrorism poses for American society and institutions, from both legal and political institutions, on one hand, to public health and medical institutions on the other. Volume one documents and analyses the challenge bioterrorism poses to these political, economic and legal institutions, putting bioterrorism into its historical context as a problem discussed and anticipated by government for decades. Volume two documents the challenges bioterrorism poses to public health and public policy as a weapon of disease and fear. The materials in these volumes provide case histories and discourse by specialists relating to the ways that the bioterrorism threat has been perceived and approached by US health and law institutions.

The Israel Yearbook on Human Rights- an annual published under the auspices of the Faculty of Law of Tel Aviv University since 1971- is devoted to publishing studies by distinguished scholars in Israel and other countries on human rights in peace and war, with particular emphasis on problems relevant to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The Yearbook also incorporates documentary materials relating to Israel and the Administered Areas which are not otherwise available in English (including summaries of judicial decisions, compilations of legislative enactments and military proclamations). The Articles section of Volume 34 contains articles on Current Issues in International Law and Military Operations.

This book analyzes the legality of the use of force by the US, the UK and their NATO allies against Afghanistan in 2001. The work challenges the main ground for resorting to force, namely, self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations' Charter, by examining each element of Article 51 that ought to have been satisfied in order to legitimise the use of force. It also examines the wider context, including comparable Security Council resolutions in historic situations as well as modern instances where force has been used, such as against Iraq in 2003 and against Lebanon in 2006. As well as making the case against the legality of the use of force, the book addresses wider questions such as the meaning of 'terrorism' in international law, the changing nature of conflict in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries including the impact of non-state actors and an overview of terrorism trends as well as the evolution of limitations on the resort to force from the League of Nations through to 2001. The book concludes with some insight into the possible future implications for the use of force by states, particularly when force is purportedly justified on the grounds of self-defence.