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Full-Text Articles in Law
Proportionality In Counterinsurgency: A Relational Theory, Evan J. Criddle
Proportionality In Counterinsurgency: A Relational Theory, Evan J. Criddle
Evan J. Criddle
At a time when the United States has undertaken high-stakes counterinsurgency campaigns in at least three countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan) while offering support to insurgents in a fourth (Libya), it is striking that the international legal standards governing the use of force in counterinsurgency remain unsettled and deeply controversial. Some authorities have endorsed norms from international humanitarian law as lex specialis, while others have emphasized international human rights as minimum standards of care for counterinsurgency operations. This Article addresses the growing friction between international human rights and humanitarian law in counterinsurgency by developing a relational theory of the use …
When Is A War Not A War? The Myth Of The Global War On Terror, Mary Ellen O'Connell
When Is A War Not A War? The Myth Of The Global War On Terror, Mary Ellen O'Connell
Mary Ellen O'Connell
It is essential to correctly classify situations in the world as ones of war or peace: human lives depend on the distinction, but so do liberty, property, and the integrity of the natural environment. President Bush's war on terror finds war where suspected members of al Qaeda are found. By contrast, war under international law exists where hostilities are on-going. To the extent there is ambiguity, the United States should err on the side of pursuing terrorists within the peacetime criminal law enforcement paradigm, not a wartime one. Not only does the criminal law better protect important human rights and …
The Private Military Company—Unravelling The Theoretical, Legal & Regulatory Mosaic, Jackson N. Maogoto, Benedict Sheehy
The Private Military Company—Unravelling The Theoretical, Legal & Regulatory Mosaic, Jackson N. Maogoto, Benedict Sheehy
Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto
As an undeclared arm of the state, the PMC is politically expedient having proved to be highly advantageous in certain circumstances when states wish to engage in surreptitious or unpopular violence, yet easy to condemn when states need to gather political capital. In other words, the PMC has become an integral actor in the system of governance at both national and international levels. Such corporations, at least at one level, represent the evolution, globalization, and corporatization of the age-old mercenary trade. The worry, of course, is that they operate without the public scrutiny appropriate for military actors. Indeed, the matter …
Subcontracting Sovereignty: The Commodification Of Military Force And The Fragmentation Of State Authority, Jackson N. Maogoto
Subcontracting Sovereignty: The Commodification Of Military Force And The Fragmentation Of State Authority, Jackson N. Maogoto
Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto
This Article has as its central theme the decentralization of the state’s control over legitimate military force with the consequential diffusion of governmental control that stands to fragment state sovereignty. It argues that the increasing centrality of PMFs to the prosecution of war is creating a changed national security landscape with PMFs increasingly influencing governmental policy both overtly and covertly. PMF heads many of whom are former high ranking military and civilian personnel now advise governments and in some cases sit on government advisory boards. Additionally they also offer governments a conduit for pursuing covert foreign policy aims and circumvention …
Contemporary Private Military Firms Under International Law: An Unregulated “Gold Rush”, Jackson N. Maogoto, Benedict Sheehy
Contemporary Private Military Firms Under International Law: An Unregulated “Gold Rush”, Jackson N. Maogoto, Benedict Sheehy
Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto
Clearly, the issues raised by the ascendance of contemporary PMFs would be suitable for a book length treatment; however, in light of the pressing nature of the present situation expediency dictates a shorter but timelier piece. This article has as its modest aim an exploration of the thorny legal issues raised by the commodification of force. It discusses the nature of the contemporary PMF noting that it bears vestiges of yester year mercenaries. It then grapples with their uncertain status under international law despite the fact that they potentially pose problems for state authority and the direct control of states …
Rushing To Break The Law? “The Bush Doctrine” Of Pre-Emptive Strikes And The Un Charter Regime On The Use Of Force, Jackson N. Maogoto
Rushing To Break The Law? “The Bush Doctrine” Of Pre-Emptive Strikes And The Un Charter Regime On The Use Of Force, Jackson N. Maogoto
Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto
The issues that the Article tackles are obviously complex and lengthy, however the Article has as its modest goal the exploration of the general arguments that the use of force to counter terrorism raises under the UN Charter regime on the use of force. In Part II, the Article gives an overview of the UN and terrorism noting the ambivalence in addressing the issue that has contributed to the confusion over a precise definition in large part reflective of the basic disagreement over the elements of terrorism itself. Part II then adopts a definition for the purposes of this Article. …