Mary Ellen O'Connell

Words over war : mediation and arbitration to prevent deadly conflict

Chapter 1 Introduction: Background and Analytical Perspectives Part 2 Part One: Separation of Nations Chapter 3 Multilateral Mediation in Intrastate Conflicts: Russia, the United Nations, and the War in Abkhazia Chapter 4 From Lisbon to Dayton: International Mediation and the Bosnia Crisis Chapter 5 Croatian Independence from Yugoslavia, 1991-1992 Chapter 6 The Oslo Channel: Benefits of a Neutral Facilitator to Secret Negotiations Part 7 Part Two: Integration of Nations Chapter 8 The 1991 Cambodia Settlement Agreements Chapter 9 El Salvador Chapter 10 The Role of Mediation in the Northern Ireland Peace Process Chapter 11 The Arusha Accords and the Failure of International Intervention in Rwanda Chapter 12 South Africa: The Negotiated Transition from Apartheid to Nonracial Democracy Part 13 Part Three: Intermediation in Noncivil Conflicts Chapter 14 Making Waves: Third Parties and International Mediation in the Aral Sea Basin Chapter 15 The Vatican Mediation of the Beagle Channel Dispute: Crisis Intervention and Forum-Building Chapter 16 The North Korean Nuclear Proliferation Crisis Part 17 Part Four: Conclusion Chapter 18 Lessons of the Case Studies for International Mediation and Arbitration to Prevent Deadly Conflict

What is War

The meaning of armed conflict is reported on by prominent international law scholars from four continents together with perspectives by military historians, soldiers, just war scholars, political scientists, peace studies scholars, and war correspondents, offering a unique interdisciplinary exploration.

To unite our strength : enhancing the United Nations peace and security system

In the 1990s the UNs potential has been reborn. Now the world must find ways to incorporate elements of that success into the UN system. No single reform or even expansion of UN military power can achieve the necessary changes; rather a series of political and military innovations are needed soon to develop a UN peace and security system. The authors make specific recommendations in the areas of the Security Council, the Military Staff Committee, the Secretary General and the Secretariat, operational elements, regional security arrangements, and financial resources. Co-published with the International Economic Studies Institute.

Responsibility to Peace: A Critique of R2P

Abstract The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 led to the doctrine of R2P, which envisages the use of force in defence of human rights. But as the Kosovo conflict demonstrates, nothing is more destructive of human rights than war. The protection and promotion of human rights should be done through lawful and non-lethal means. This essay argues that citizens and states have a responsibility to peace as much as to human rights because human rights can only flourish in a condition of peace. This essay seeks to restore peace to its proper place in the discussion of international politics and human rights.

Jus Cogens: International Law’s Higher Ethical Norms

Most international lawyers recognize that the international legal system includes a category of higher norms known as jus cogens or peremptory norms. Most international lawyers also agree that jus cogens norms are superior to and may void conflicting laws. Beyond these points, however, there is little agreement. This Chapter presents evidence and arguments toward building consensus in the field of international law respecting additional aspects of jus cogens. In particular, it argues for the following propositions:Jus cogens norms are moral or ethical norms in nature. Other imperative norms such as those critical to the operation of the international legal system, are general principles of law, not jus cogens. Jus cogens norms invalidate directly conflicting international or national laws. Jus cogens norms do not have the effect of striking down otherwise valid law or of imposing affirmative duties. Only natural law theory contains explanations of jus cogens norms; positivism is inadequate to explain the existence and operation of jus cogens.Much natural law theorizing reflects a scholar or judge’s own subjective views. This problematic aspect often seen in theorizing about jus cogens may be addressed through combining natural law theory with an adjunct legal theory known as legal process.

The Just War Tradition and International Law against War: The Myth of Discordant Doctrines

The international law regulating resort to armed force, still known by the Latin phrase, the jus ad bellum, forms a principal substantive subfield of international law, along with human rights law, international environmental law, and international economic law. Among theologians, philosophers, and political scientists, just war theory is a major topic of study. Nevertheless, only a minority of scholars and practitioners know both jus ad bellum and just war theory well. Lack of knowledge has led to the erroneous view that the two areas are in conflict. This article responds to this misapprehension, explaining the deep compatibility of international law and just war theory. Today’s jus ad bellum, especially the peremptory norm against aggression, is not only the law; it also forms the minimum threshold of a just war under just war theory. In other words, for a war to be morally just, it must at least be lawful. To go to war in violation of the jus ad bellum is both a legal and a moral wrong. Compliance not only fulfills the general moral good of obedience to law; it forms the first step toward fulfilling moral obligations in the grave area of war. This characterization of the relationship between law and morality is seen in the history of the legal prohibition on force and in the actual set of rules that make up the contemporary regime. Comprehensive and persuasive accounts of the jus ad bellum and just war theory consistently reflect this thesis.

The law on lethal force begins with the right to life

In August 2015, the UK government intentionally killed a criminal suspect and the bystanders with him using a drone-launched Hellfire missile in Syria. In doing so, the UK violated the right to life of all three men because the UK had no lawful basis for deploying military force in Syria. Even if it did, international humanitarian law, governing the conduct of armed conflict, prohibits assassination – the intentional killing of an individual for reasons other than advancing a legitimate military objective. In any actual cases of ambiguity, the legal presumption in international law is with peace and protection of the right to life.In August 2015, the UK government intentionally killed a criminal suspect and the bystanders with him using a drone-launched Hellfire missile in Syria. In doing so, the UK violated the right to life of all three men because the UK had no lawful basis for deploying military force in Syria. Even if it did, international humanitarian law, governing the conduct of armed conflict, prohibits assassination – the intentional killing of an individual for reasons other than advancing a legitimate military objective. In any actual cases of ambiguity, the legal presumption in international law is with peace and protection of the right to life.

Game of Drones

Mary Ellen O’Connell, Game of Drones, Review Essay of CHAMAYOU, GREGOIRE. A THEORY OF THE DRONE (Janet Llyod, trans.); SHAH, SIKANDER AHMED. INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DRONE STRIKES IN PAKISTAN: THE LEGAL AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ASPECTS; WOODS, CHRIS. SUDDEN JUSTICE: AMERICA’S SECRET DRONE WARS, 109 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 889 (2015).States and armed groups use drones today to hunt and kill known persons and anyone in their vicinity by launching Hellfire missiles and dropping 500-pound bombs. They are used for targeted killing, a euphemism for assassination. Woods provides an excellent account of drone development from spy plane to killing machine. It is Chamayou, however, who demonstrates that as the technology evolved so have certain legal, moral, and strategic assessments of targeted killing. These new developments have not occurred because of the success of targeted killing. All three books provide powerful evidence that targeted killing is counter-productive to security policy. It is the very possession of the technology that leads to the will to use it, inducing legal scholars to argue for the right to do so. Chamayou says those possessing the capacity to kill believe they also possess the right to kill. His insights help explain the wide gap between the actual international law on the use of force — well stated by Shah — and the arguments presented by United States government lawyers and sympathetic scholars. International law in the form of the United Nations Charter generally prohibits the use of military force with only two narrow exceptions: The Security Council may authorize force when necessary to restore international peace and security, and states may exercise individual and collective self- defense against a state responsible for an armed attack on another state. Governments also invite assistance in suppressing civil wars. Any other analysis is fabricated to suit the drone.

International Dispute Settlement

Contents: Overview: An overview of international dispute settlement, Richard B. Bilder. Negotiation and Consultation: Consultation and negotiation in the pacific settlement of international disputes, Charles Manga Fombad International law, mediation and negotiation, Manfred Lachs. Good Offices and Mediation: The good offices of the United Nations Secretary-General in the field of human rights, B.G. Ramcharan International mediation - the view from the Vatican: lessons from mediating the Beagle Channel dispute, Thomas Princen. Inquiry and Conciliation: The place of commissions of inquiry and conciliation treaties in the peaceful settlement of international disputes, Charles Cheney Hyde Accidents and crises: the Dogger Bank affair, Richard Ned Lebow. Arbitration: States and the undertaking to arbitrate, Hazel Fox Retaliation or arbitration or both? The 1978 United States-France aviation dispute, Lori Fisler Damrosch The nature of the Iran-United States claims tribunal and the evolving structure of international dispute resolution, David D. Caron Strengthening GATT procedures for settling trade disputes, Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann . Judicial Settlement: Decline of the optional clause, C.H.M. Waldock Settlement of disputes arising out of Law of the Sea convention, Louis B. Sohn Invoking international human rights law in domestic courts, Richard B. Lillich The time has come for an international criminal court, M. Cherif Bassiouni The proliferation of adjudicatory bodies: dangers and possible answers, Robert Y. Jennings. Agencies: The place of international law in the settlement of disputes by the Security Council, Rosalyn Higgins. The Future of International Dispute Settlement: Legalized dispute resolution: interstate and transnational, Robert O. Keohane, Andrew Moravcsik and Anne Marie Slaughter Alternative dispute resolution under international law, Christine Chinkin Name index.