International Law and Drone Strikes in Pakistan ─ The Legal and Socio-political Aspects

While conventional warfare has an established body of legal precedence, many scholars and commentators have argued that the legality of drone strikes by the US in Pakistan and elsewhere remains ambiguous.

This book explores the legal and political issues surrounding the use of drones in Pakistan. The book examines international treaty law and customary international law as well as statistical data on the impact of the strikes in order to analyse of whether the use of military force by the United States on Pakistani soil is in accordance is in with the law related to the use of force and whether the drone strikes carried out are in compliance with international humanitarian law. The questions of how international law views the giving of consent by states for military action on their soil by another state and what this says about the interaction between sovereignty and consent are also considered as well as the legal responsibilities of the state actors involved.

The book goes on to look at the socio-political realities of drone strikes in Pakistan. The author scrutinizes the impact of drone strikes on both Pakistani politics and the US-Pakistan relationship. Topics such as the Pakistan army-government relationship, geopolitical dynamics affecting the region and how international institutions are evolving as a result of drone strikes are explored, offering valuable insights into the effects on Pakistani domestic politics and the expanding sectarian and tribal fault lines.

This book will be of vital importance to a scholarly audience of is intended for a scholarly audience in law, security studies, political science and international relations.

Sikander Ahmed Shah is Assistant Professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan.