When is it right to fight ? : legality, legitimacy, and the use of military force

Abstract EN

The recent events in Iraq, where the US and the UK led a coalition against Iraq, have raised a number of questions for the interpretation and enforcement of international law.

Basically, is the existing international law authorizing military action outdated within the new global economic and political order? Can the international community mitigate the desires of unilateralist world leaders who command vast military and financial resources to undertake what their constituents in the corporate world consider to be in their best interests? This paper examines the current crisis in international law and the need for new legal tools for the 21st century to clearly determine what constitutes legitimacy spurring international military intervention.