Praise for previous edition: “...a comprehensive, meticulously-researched study of contemporary international law governing the use of armed force in international relations...' Andrew Garwood-Gowers, Queensland University of Technology Law Review, Volume 12(2) When this first English language edition of The Law Against War published it quickly established itself as a classic. Detailed, analytically rigorous and comprehensive, it provided an indispensable guide to the legal framework regulating the use of force. Now a decade on the much anticipated new edition brings the work up to date. It looks at new precedents arising from the Arab Spring; the struggle against the "Islamic State" in Iraq and Syria; and the conflicts in Ukraine and Yemen. It also reflects the new doctrinal debates surrounding recent state practice. Previous positions are reconsidered and in some cases revised, notably the question of consensual intervention and the very definition of force, particularly, to accommodate targeted extrajudicial executions and cyber-operations. Finally, the new edition provides detailed coverage of the concept of self-defense, reflecting recent interpretations of the International Court of Justice and the ongoing controversies surrounding its definition and interpretation.

Analysis of the changing legal context of modern warfare including developments over the last decade.

Reprint of the sole edition of this translation. In this momentous work Grotius describes the situations in which war is a valid tool of law enforcement and outlines the principles of armed combat. Though based on Christian natural law, Grotius advanced the novel argument that his system would still be valid if it lacked a divine basis. In this regard he pointed to the future by moving international law in a secular direction. This edition was abridged by removing most of the quotations from "ancient historians, orators, philosophers, and poets," which are identified in footnotes. As Whewell states in the preface, they tended to "confuse the subject, obscure the reasoning, and weary the reader." By removing them he enhanced clarity and reduced the bulk of the work by "more than a half" (vi). Hugo Grotius [1583-1645], generally acknowledged as the founder of international law, was an influential Dutch jurist, philosopher and theologian. Originally published in 1625, De Jure Belli ac Pacis (On the Law of War and Peace, translated by Whewell as On the Rights of War and Peace) is widely considered to be the first modern treatise on international law. William Whewell [1794-1866] wrote on numerous subjects and is known for the breadth of his endeavors, and his influence on the philosophy of science. He was one of the founding members and an early president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the Royal Society, president of the Geological Society, and longtime Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.

There is no doubt that international law was of major importance during the Gulf conflict of 1990-91. Military and other actions were repeatedly justified through reference to international law, and disputes about interpretation were frequent. This book provides a definitive legal analysis of the conflict, with reference both to international and to English law. Some have been tempted to argue that international law is an ineffective means of controlling the activities of a state and its armed forces from the fact that there were no war crimes trials of the leaders of Iraq, or of any other state. International law does, however, provide a set of norms either (a) agreed to by individual states through the ratification of, or accession to, a treaty, or (b) which apply to all states by the operation of customary international law and other secondary sources. This book determines these norms in order to judge the manner in which individual states recognized the binding nature of them in the conduct of their operations. The contributors include lawyers from each of the three British armed services.

From events at Nuremberg and Tokyo after World War II, to the trials of Slobodan Molosevic and Saddam Hussein, war crimes trials are an increasingly pervasive feature of the aftermath of conflict. This book examines the meaning of such trials and their cultural and political effects.