Under Attack: Challenges to the Rules Governing the International Use of Force

With the end of the Cold War, President George H. W. Bush declared the advent of a "new world order" in which "the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle." Instead, Helmke (U. of Sydney, Australia) argues, the years since have been marked by a steady erosion of post-World War II international legal regime governing the use of international force, culminating in the US invasion and occupation of Iraq without United Nations sanction. After providing a capsule history of the evolution of the legal regime of the international use of force from the 17th century to the post-Cold War era, she compares state practices across the time periods of the pre-1945 era, the Cold War era, and since 1990. She considers the justifications offered for military interventions and whether they comport with or divert from the long-established legal regime, finding that the post-Cold War era has been marked by a softened interpretation of sovereignty and an increased reliance on Just War theory and collective action as justification, rather than international law. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Dr Belinda Helmke is a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Australia