18.9: Resources and References

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 77217

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

Review

Key Points

Empowering human security requires both the limitation of armed conflict as well as the development of international human rights.
International law attempts to reduce the arbitrary use of armed force by upholding jus ad bellum rules that limit war to instances of self-defence, collective self-defence and Security Council authorization. During conflict, soldiers are limited by jus in bello rules that outlaw inhumane or unnecessary destruction.
Certain weapons of war have been deemed illegal due to their inability to discriminate between targets or their tendency to cause unnecessary suffering.
International organizations have empowered human security regimes by enacting laws, authorizing peacekeeping operations or adjudicating disputes.
Human rights challenge the sovereign autonomy of nation-states by restricting their domestic behaviour.

.Extension Activities & Further Research

How successful has international law been in its efforts to reduce armed conflict?
To what extent do jus in bello restrictions reflect the naturalist perspective of international law?
Should the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) be authorized by the UN Security Council or International Court of Justice (ICJ) before it is deemed lawful?
The international legal system has been based on the sovereignty of the state. To what extent does human rights law erode the sovereignty of states?
Should nuclear weapons be deemed illegal due to their inability to discriminate between combatants and civilians?
What role should NGOs play in the formulation of international law, its monitoring, and its enforcement? Explain your reasons.

List of Terms

See Glossary for full list of terms and definitions.

ad hoc war crimes tribunals
aggression
anarchy
anti-personnel landmine (APL)
Chapter VII
Cold War
compétence de guerre
Concert of Europe
Convention on the Prevention and the Punishment of Genocide
Customary International Law
cyber attack
Geneva Conventions
human rights
International Court of Justice (ICJ)
International Criminal Court
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY)
International Military Tribunal (IMT)
jus in bello
jus ad bellum
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
London Charter (1945)
non-intervention principle
natural law
nuclear weapon
peacekeeping operation (PKO)
positive law
responsibility to protect (R2P)
security council
self-defence
Treaties of Westphalia (1648)
treaty law
United Nations
United Nations Charter (1945)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

References

Donnelly, J. (2006). International human rights (3rd ed.). Westview Press.

International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. (2001). The responsibility to protect: Report of the ICISS. https://www.globalr2p.org/resources/...ereignty-2001/

Bibliography

Brownlie, I. (Ed.). (1995). Basic documents in international law (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Joyner, C. C. (2005). International law in the 21st century: Rules for global governance. Rowman & Littlefield.

Mayall, J. (Ed.). (1996). The new interventionism, 1991–1994: United Nations experience in Cambodia, former Yugoslavia and Somalia. Cambridge University Press.

Shaw, M. N. (2008). International law (6th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Silverburg, S. R. (Ed.). (2011). International law: Contemporary issues and future developments. Westview Press.

Steiner, H. J., & Alston, P. (1996). International human rights in context: Law, politics, morals. Oxford University Press.

United Nations. (1945). Charter of the United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/charter-united...ons/index.html

von Glahn, G., & Taulbee, J. L. (2010). Law among nations: An introduction to public international law (9th ed.). Pearson Longman.

Walzer, M. (1977). Just and unjust wars: A moral argument with historical illustrations. Basic Books.

Weiss, T. G., & Daws, S. (Ed.). (2008). The Oxford handbook on the United Nations. Oxford University Press.

Footnote

Examples of scholars who are considered Naturalists are Francisco Vitoria (1480-1546) and Samuel Pufendor (1632-1694).
Early positivist scholars include Richard Zouche (1590-1660) and Cornelis van Bynkershoek (1673-1743).
Article 38, International Court of Justice Statute.
Legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons, International Court of Justice, 8 July 1996.
Resolution 678, adopted by the UN Security Council XE “United Nations Security Council” , 2963rd meeting, 29 November 1990.
Later, when peacekeeping operations became more heavily armed due to on-going conflicts, and thus more closely resembled Chapter VII war operations, the term “Chapter 6&3/4” was used.
As of 2 July 2012, the ICC’s 10th anniversary.
Report by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS XE “International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty” ), December 2001.