The international rules and institutions governing the use of military force are under unprecedented scrutiny, following the removal of Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein in wars that were not sanctioned by the UN. Michael Byer's highly accessible book addresses seven broad issues: sanctions; peacekeeping; military force authorized by the UN; self-defence; UN authorized humanitarian intervention; unilateral humanitarian intervention; and the laws applicable during armed conflict ('international humanitarian law'). These issues are examined through a series of real conflicts, starting with the 1837 Caroline Incident and ending with the 2003 Iraq war. The final chapter focuses on international humanitarian law, and ranges from the 1859 Battle of Solferino to the Iraq war. War Law is neither a textbook nor a treatise, but rather an informative and stimulating read for the educated and intellectually curious non-specialist about what has always been a highly divisive issue.
Author Biography
Michael Byers is Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is the author of Custom, Power and the Power of Rules (1999), the editor of The Role of Law in International Politics (Oxford University Press, 2000) and is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books.
