Description
Book SynopsisSince the UN Charter came into effect in 1945, there have been numerous incidents in which one or more of the five major powers (at least arguably) violated the Charter''s Article 2(4) prohibition of force. Such incidents notwithstanding, this book demonstrates how the Charter restrains the major powers'' military actions. As an instrument of international order, the Charter provides a framework of legal rules restricting the use of armed force. Although these rules are subject to auto-interpretation by the major powers (as a consequence of their veto), they create an expectation of compliance that subjects the major powers'' military actions to international scrutiny. To reduce the likelihood of resistance from states threatened by such actions, major powers exercise prudential restraint, altering the manner and timing of their military actions in accordance with the legal arguments offered to justify those actions as consistent with the Charter and therefore not threatening to the
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'Westra...has written a valuable book. The greatest value lies in the design of a creative and original theoretical framework for analysing the problem of great-power compliance with the ground rules of the post-1945 legal order.'Alfred Van Staden, Leiden Journal of International Law
Table of Contents1. The functioning of the UN Charter as a restraint on military action 2. The UN Charter and legal argumentation 3. Persuasion, legitimation, and restraint 4. The impact of the UN Charter on US military intervention in the Caribbean region, 1953–61 5. The impact of the UN Charter on Anglo-French military intervention in Egypt, 1956 6. The impact of the UN Charter on Soviet military intervention in Hungary, 1956 7. The impact of the UN Charter on US–British military intervention in Iraq, 1990–98 8. The impact of the UN Charter on US–British military intervention in Iraq, 1999–2003 9. The continued salience of the UN Charter system. Appendix A: Case selection and methodology. Appendix B: Case coding. Appendix C: Case overview. Notes. References. Index.
