A preventive war is an armed conflict "initiated in the belief that military conflict, while not imminent, is inevitable, and that to delay would involve greater risk."[1] The party which is being attacked has a latent threat capability or it has shown that it intends to attack in the future, based on its past actions and posturing. A preventive war aims to forestall a shift in the balance of power[2][3] by strategically attacking before the balance of power has had a chance to shift in the favor of the targeted party. Preventive war is distinct from preemptive strike, which is the first strike when an attack is imminent.[2] Preventive uses of force "seek to stop another state . . . from developing a military capability before it becomes threatening or to hobble or destroy it thereafter, whereas [p]reemptive uses of force come against a backdrop of tactical intelligence or warning indicating imminent military action by an adversary."[4]
The majority view is that a preventive war undertaken without the approval of the United Nations is illegal under the modern framework of international law.[5][6][7] The consensus is that preventive war "goes beyond what is acceptable in international law"[8] and lacks legal basis.[9] The UN High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change stopped short of rejecting the concept outright but suggested that there is no right to preventive war. If there are good grounds for initiating preventive war, the matter should be put to the UN Security Council, which can authorize such action,[10] given that one of the Council's main functions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter ("Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression") is to enforce the obligation of member states under Article 4, Paragraph 2 to "refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state . . .[11] The Charter's drafters assumed that the Council might need to employ preventive force to forestall aggression such as initiated by Nazi Germany in the 1930s.[12]
Examplesedit
The Axis powers in World War II routinely invaded neutral countries on grounds of prevention and began the invasion of Poland in 1939 by claiming the Poles had attacked a border outpost first. In 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway and argued that Britain might have used them as launching points for an attack or prevented supply of strategic materials to Germany. In the summer of 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, inaugurating the bloody and brutal land war by claiming that a Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy threatened the Reich. In late 1941, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran was carried out to secure a supply corridor of petrol to the Soviet Union. Iranian Shah Rezā Shāh appealed to US President Franklin Roosevelt for help but was rebuffed on the grounds that "movements of conquest by Germany will continue and will extend beyond Europe to Asia, Africa, and even to the Americas, unless they are stopped by military force."[13]
Perhaps the most famous example of preventive war is the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941.[14] Many in the US and Japan believed war to be inevitable. Coupled to the crippling US economic embargo that was rapidly degrading the Japanese military capability, that led the Japanese leadership to believe it was better to have the war as soon as possible.[14]
The sneak attack was partly motivated by a desire to destroy the US Pacific Fleet to allow Japan to advance with reduced opposition from the US when it secured Japanese oil supplies by fighting against the British Empire and the Dutch Empire for control over the rich East Indian (Dutch East Indies, Malay Peninsula) oil-fields.[15] In 1940, American policies and tension toward Japanese military actions and Japanese expansionism in the Far East increased. For example, in May 1940, the base of the US Pacific Fleet that was stationed on the West Coast was forwarded to an "advanced" position at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The move was opposed by some US Navy officials, including their commander, Admiral James Otto Richardson, who was relieved by Roosevelt.[citation needed] Even so, the Far East Fleet was not significantly reinforced. Another ineffective plan to reinforce the Pacific was a rather late relocation of fighter planes to bases located on the Pacific islands like Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines. For a long time, Japanese leaders, especially leaders of the Imperial Japanese Navy, had known that the large US military strength and production capacity posed a long-term threat to Japan's imperialist desires, especially if hostilities broke out in the Pacific.[citation needed] War games on both sides had long reflected those expectations.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was framed primarily as a preemptive war by the George W. Bush administration,[16] although President Bush also argued it was supported by Security Council Resolutions: "Under Resolutions 678 and 687--both still in effect--the United States and our allies are authorized to use force in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction."[17] At the time, the US public and its allies were led to believe that Ba'athist Iraq might have restarted its nuclear weapons program or been "cheating" on its obligations to dispose of its large stockpile of chemical weapons dating from the Iran–Iraq War. Supporters of the war have argued it to be justified, as Iraq both harbored Islamic terrorist groups sharing a common hatred of Western countries and was suspected to be developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Iraq's history of noncompliance of international security matters and its history of both developing and using such weapons were factors in the public perception of Iraq's having weapons of mass destruction.
In support of an attack on Iraq, US President George W. Bush stated in an address to the UN General Assembly on September 12, 2002 that the Iraqi "regime is a grave and gathering danger."[18] However, despite extensive searches during the several years of occupation, the suspected weapons of mass destruction or weapons program infrastructure alleged by the Bush administration were not found to be functional or even known to most Iraqi leaders.[19] Coalition forces instead found dispersed and sometimes-buried and partially dismantled stockpiles of abandoned and functionally expired chemical weapons. Some of the caches had been dangerously stored and were leaking, and many were then disposed of hastily and in secret, leading to secondary exposure from improper handling. Allegations of mismanagement and information suppression followed.[20][21]
^Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms p.413 (2001, as amended 2002).
^ abTaming American Power, Stephen M. Walt, pp 224
^Levy, Jack S. (2011). "Preventive War: Concept and Propositions". International Interactions. 37 (1): 87–96. doi:10.1080/03050629.2011.546716. ISSN 0305-0629. S2CID 154345645.
^William Safire, "Rope-a-Dope: A Lexicon of Intervention," N.Y. Times, Oct. 13, 2002, p.30, 31.
^Beinart, Peter (2017-04-21). "How America Shed the Taboo Against Preventive War". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
^Warren, Aiden; Bode, Ingvild (2014), Warren, Aiden; Bode, Ingvild (eds.), "Self-Defense in International Law: Preemptive/Preventive Requisites", Governing the Use-of-Force in International Relations: The Post 9/11 US Challenge on International Law, New Security Challenges Series, Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 23–45, doi:10.1057/9781137411440_3, ISBN9781137411440
^Suzanne Uniacke (2007), "The False Promise of Preventive War", in Henry Shue; David Rodin (eds.), Preemption: military action and moral justification, Oxford UP, p. 88, ISBN9780199233137
^"One of the fundamental purposes of the Charter is to provide forces which will be immediately available to the Security Council to take action to prevent a breach of the peace."Senate Executive Report No. 8, "to Accompany Executive F," 79th Cong. (1945).
^ abJ. Barnes, R. Stoll, "PREEMPTIVE AND PREVENTIVE WAR: A PRELIMINARY TAXONOMY", p.15, THE JAMES A. BAKER III INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RICE UNIVERSITY, URL 2010-11-23 at the Wayback Machine
^Keith Crane, Imported oil and US national security, p. 26, Rand Environment, Energy, and Economic Development (Program), International Security and Defense Policy Center
^David E. Sanger, "Bush's Doctrine for War," N.Y. Times, March 18, 2003 at A1
^"Bush's Speech on Iraq: 'Saddam Hussein and His Sons Must Leave,'" N.Y. Times, March 18, 2003 at A 10.
^President's Remarks at the United Nations General Assembly, September 12, 2002
^"CIA's final report: No WMD found in Iraq". NBC News. 25 April 2005. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
^Ford, Dana (October 15, 2014). "Report: United States kept secret its chemical weapons finds in Iraq". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
^Chivers, CJ (14 October 2014). "The Secret Casualties of Iraq's Abandoned Chemical Weapons". New York Times. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
External linksedit
The American Strategy of Preemptive War and International Law
February 15, 2024
preventive, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, examples, perspective, this, article, represent, worldwide, view, subject, improve, this, article, discuss, . This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate September 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed January 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message A preventive war is an armed conflict initiated in the belief that military conflict while not imminent is inevitable and that to delay would involve greater risk 1 The party which is being attacked has a latent threat capability or it has shown that it intends to attack in the future based on its past actions and posturing A preventive war aims to forestall a shift in the balance of power 2 3 by strategically attacking before the balance of power has had a chance to shift in the favor of the targeted party Preventive war is distinct from preemptive strike which is the first strike when an attack is imminent 2 Preventive uses of force seek to stop another state from developing a military capability before it becomes threatening or to hobble or destroy it thereafter whereas p reemptive uses of force come against a backdrop of tactical intelligence or warning indicating imminent military action by an adversary 4 Contents 1 Criticism 2 Examples 2 1 Pearl Harbor 2 2 Iraq War 2003 2011 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksCriticism editThe majority view is that a preventive war undertaken without the approval of the United Nations is illegal under the modern framework of international law 5 6 7 The consensus is that preventive war goes beyond what is acceptable in international law 8 and lacks legal basis 9 The UN High level Panel on Threats Challenges and Change stopped short of rejecting the concept outright but suggested that there is no right to preventive war If there are good grounds for initiating preventive war the matter should be put to the UN Security Council which can authorize such action 10 given that one of the Council s main functions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace Breaches of the Peace and Acts of Aggression is to enforce the obligation of member states under Article 4 Paragraph 2 to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state 11 The Charter s drafters assumed that the Council might need to employ preventive force to forestall aggression such as initiated by Nazi Germany in the 1930s 12 Examples editThe Axis powers in World War II routinely invaded neutral countries on grounds of prevention and began the invasion of Poland in 1939 by claiming the Poles had attacked a border outpost first In 1940 Germany invaded Denmark and Norway and argued that Britain might have used them as launching points for an attack or prevented supply of strategic materials to Germany In the summer of 1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union inaugurating the bloody and brutal land war by claiming that a Judeo Bolshevik conspiracy threatened the Reich In late 1941 the Anglo Soviet invasion of Iran was carried out to secure a supply corridor of petrol to the Soviet Union Iranian Shah Reza Shah appealed to US President Franklin Roosevelt for help but was rebuffed on the grounds that movements of conquest by Germany will continue and will extend beyond Europe to Asia Africa and even to the Americas unless they are stopped by military force 13 Pearl Harbor edit Main articles Attack on Pearl Harbor and Events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor Perhaps the most famous example of preventive war is the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7 1941 14 Many in the US and Japan believed war to be inevitable Coupled to the crippling US economic embargo that was rapidly degrading the Japanese military capability that led the Japanese leadership to believe it was better to have the war as soon as possible 14 The sneak attack was partly motivated by a desire to destroy the US Pacific Fleet to allow Japan to advance with reduced opposition from the US when it secured Japanese oil supplies by fighting against the British Empire and the Dutch Empire for control over the rich East Indian Dutch East Indies Malay Peninsula oil fields 15 In 1940 American policies and tension toward Japanese military actions and Japanese expansionism in the Far East increased For example in May 1940 the base of the US Pacific Fleet that was stationed on the West Coast was forwarded to an advanced position at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu Hawaii The move was opposed by some US Navy officials including their commander Admiral James Otto Richardson who was relieved by Roosevelt citation needed Even so the Far East Fleet was not significantly reinforced Another ineffective plan to reinforce the Pacific was a rather late relocation of fighter planes to bases located on the Pacific islands like Wake Island Guam and the Philippines For a long time Japanese leaders especially leaders of the Imperial Japanese Navy had known that the large US military strength and production capacity posed a long term threat to Japan s imperialist desires especially if hostilities broke out in the Pacific citation needed War games on both sides had long reflected those expectations Iraq War 2003 2011 edit Main articles Criticism of the Iraq War and Rationale for the Iraq War The 2003 invasion of Iraq was framed primarily as a preemptive war by the George W Bush administration 16 although President Bush also argued it was supported by Security Council Resolutions Under Resolutions 678 and 687 both still in effect the United States and our allies are authorized to use force in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction 17 At the time the US public and its allies were led to believe that Ba athist Iraq might have restarted its nuclear weapons program or been cheating on its obligations to dispose of its large stockpile of chemical weapons dating from the Iran Iraq War Supporters of the war have argued it to be justified as Iraq both harbored Islamic terrorist groups sharing a common hatred of Western countries and was suspected to be developing weapons of mass destruction WMD Iraq s history of noncompliance of international security matters and its history of both developing and using such weapons were factors in the public perception of Iraq s having weapons of mass destruction In support of an attack on Iraq US President George W Bush stated in an address to the UN General Assembly on September 12 2002 that the Iraqi regime is a grave and gathering danger 18 However despite extensive searches during the several years of occupation the suspected weapons of mass destruction or weapons program infrastructure alleged by the Bush administration were not found to be functional or even known to most Iraqi leaders 19 Coalition forces instead found dispersed and sometimes buried and partially dismantled stockpiles of abandoned and functionally expired chemical weapons Some of the caches had been dangerously stored and were leaking and many were then disposed of hastily and in secret leading to secondary exposure from improper handling Allegations of mismanagement and information suppression followed 20 21 See also editA Clean Break A New Strategy for Securing the Realm Command responsibility Caroline affair Pre emptive nuclear strike Imperialism Jus ad bellum Kellogg Briand Pact Legality of the Iraq War Military science UN CharterReferences edit Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms p 413 2001 as amended 2002 a b Taming American Power Stephen M Walt pp 224 Levy Jack S 2011 Preventive War Concept and Propositions International Interactions 37 1 87 96 doi 10 1080 03050629 2011 546716 ISSN 0305 0629 S2CID 154345645 William Safire Rope a Dope A Lexicon of Intervention N Y Times Oct 13 2002 p 30 31 Beinart Peter 2017 04 21 How America Shed the Taboo Against Preventive War The Atlantic Retrieved 2019 03 13 Warren Aiden Bode Ingvild 2014 Warren Aiden Bode Ingvild eds Self Defense in International Law Preemptive Preventive Requisites Governing the Use of Force in International Relations The Post 9 11 US Challenge on International Law New Security Challenges Series Palgrave Macmillan UK pp 23 45 doi 10 1057 9781137411440 3 ISBN 9781137411440 Suzanne Uniacke 2007 The False Promise of Preventive War in Henry Shue David Rodin eds Preemption military action and moral justification Oxford UP p 88 ISBN 9780199233137 Shaw Malcolm 2008 International Law 6th edn Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 1140 ISBN 978 0 521 72814 0 Brownlie Ian 2008 Principles of Public International Law New York Oxford University Press p 734 ISBN 978 0 19 921176 0 https www unog ch 80256EDD006B8954 httpAssets C9B1B6D819968E83C1256F5E00597208 file Report of the High level Panel on Threats Challenges and Change pdf Archived 2021 01 23 at the Wayback Machine p 54 United Nations Charter Full text One of the fundamental purposes of the Charter is to provide forces which will be immediately available to the Security Council to take action to prevent a breach of the peace Senate Executive Report No 8 to Accompany Executive F 79th Cong 1945 Sunrise at Abadan Stewart Richard pp 94 108 a b J Barnes R Stoll PREEMPTIVE AND PREVENTIVE WAR A PRELIMINARY TAXONOMY p 15 THE JAMES A BAKER III INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RICE UNIVERSITY URL Archived 2010 11 23 at the Wayback Machine Keith Crane Imported oil and US national security p 26 Rand Environment Energy and Economic Development Program International Security and Defense Policy Center David E Sanger Bush s Doctrine for War N Y Times March 18 2003 at A1 Bush s Speech on Iraq Saddam Hussein and His Sons Must Leave N Y Times March 18 2003 at A 10 President s Remarks at the United Nations General Assembly September 12 2002 CIA s final report No WMD found in Iraq NBC News 25 April 2005 Retrieved 2009 05 24 Ford Dana October 15 2014 Report United States kept secret its chemical weapons finds in Iraq CNN Turner Broadcasting System Inc Retrieved 18 September 2019 Chivers CJ 14 October 2014 The Secret Casualties of Iraq s Abandoned Chemical Weapons New York Times Retrieved 18 September 2019 External links editThe Caroline Case Anticipatory Self Defence in Contemporary International Law Miskolc Journal of International Law v 1 2004 No 2 pp 104 120 The American Strategy of Preemptive War and International Law Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Preventive war amp oldid 1169761972, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
