Search results for ""author abraham d. sofaer""

The threat posed by Iran to international peace and security is approaching a crisis. After compiling a thirty-year record as the world’s most active supporter of terrorism, Iran seems determined to develop nuclear weapons. In Taking on Iran, Abraham D. Sofaer argues that US policy toward Iran cannot be restricted to a strategy based on the two costly and potentially ineffective options of attacking Iran’s nuclear programme or containing a nuclear-armed Iran. Economic sanctions and ineffective diplomacy have failed to convince Iran to abandon its nuclear arms ambitions. Sofaer explains that the United States should add to the pressure on Iran, going beyond economic sanctions and responding forcefully to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aggression, increasing the likelihood that Iran will negotiate in earnest and enabling the United States to engage Iran in the disciplined manner required for success. The author outlines thirty years of IRGC aggression and the corresponding thirty years of US weakness by both Republican and Democratic administrations. Drawing from experience in dealing with the Soviet Union during the Reagan administration, he demonstrates that combining strength and diplomacy is the option most likely to convince Iran to comply with international law without either the war necessary to end Iran’s nuclear programme or the danger in attempting to contain Iran after it acquires nuclear weapons.

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Drawing from the findings of the Stanford Task Force on Preventive Force, Abraham D. Sofaer offers a practical guide to identifying and considering the issues relevant to preventive uses of force, in the hope that such uses of force, if undertaken, will advance national and international security and the purposes of the United Nations Charter. The book examines such key questions as What are the dangers and limitations of relying on preventive force in dealing with security threats? When, if ever, would states be justified in using preventive force without U. N. Security Council approval? What standards and procedures could enhance the legitimacy of preventive force?The Best Defense? Legitimacy and Preventive Force reveals that, although preventive uses of force in general pose even greater dangers and potentially adverse consequences than uses of force in self-defense, the costs of each type of error depend on the consequences of acting versus not acting in particular cases. No general rule is available to ensure foolproof decisions. It makes sense, the author concludes, to encourage states to undertake a systematic appraisal of the merits of any threat or use of preventive force based on legal standards, U.N. Charter purposes, and established norms of conduct.

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Offers a practical guide to identifying and considering the issues relevant to preventive uses of force. It examines the legitimacy, dangers, and limitations of preventive force and concludes by encouraging states and decision makers to undertake a systematic appraisal of the merits of any threat or use of preventive force based, not only on legal standards, but also on standards related to legitimacy.

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In December 1999, more than forty members of government, industry, and academia assembled at the Hoover Institution to discuss this problem and explore possible countermeasures. The Transnational Dimension of Cyber Crime and Terrorism summarizes the conference papers and exchanges, addressing pertinent issues in chapters that include a review of the legal initiatives undertaken around the world to combat cyber crime, an exploration of the threat to civil aviation, analysis of the constitutional, legal, economic, and ethical constraints on use of technology to control cyber crime, a discussion of the ways we can achieve security objectives through international cooperation, and more. Much has been said about the threat posed by worldwide cyber crime, but little has been done to protect against it. A transnational response sufficient to meet this challenge is an immediate and compelling necessity—and this book is a critical first step in that direction.

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The growing threat of biological and chemical weapons (BCW) has created the frightening prospect of terrorist attacks by states, state-sanctioned terrorist organizations, and destructive individuals loose in our midst. What can we do to prepare for this threat? This illuminating and often disturbing book brings together the views of leading thinkers—in science, medicine, international and constitutional law, law enforcement, intelligence, and crisis management—on all diverse aspects of this challenge based on their statements at the November 1998 Hoover Institution Conference on Biological and Chemical Weapons. The New Terror takes a hard look at the most pressing BCW issues facing the international community and realistic options for preventing, deterring against, and mitigating the consequences of the use of BCW.

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The growing threat of biological and chemical weapons (BCW) has created the frightening prospect of terrorist attacks by states, state-sanctioned terrorist organizations, and destructive individuals loose in our midst. What can we do to prepare for this threat? This illuminating and often disturbing book brings together the views of leading thinkers—in science, medicine, international and constitutional law, law enforcement, intelligence, and crisis management—on all diverse aspects of this challenge based on their statements at the November 1998 Hoover Institution Conference on Biological and Chemical Weapons. The New Terror takes a hard look at the most pressing BCW issues facing the international community and realistic options for preventing, deterring against, and mitigating the consequences of the use of BCW.

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