Compliance Revisited: Great Powers and International Law on the Use of Armed Force Since 2001
Agarwal, Ananmay
2022
-
This capstone project seeks to understand whether, why and to what extent great powers comply with international law on the use of armed force (jus ad bellum). This question will be analyzed through the lens of realist and institutionalist theories of international relations and case studies on how the United States and Russia legally justified the use of armed force since 2001. The paper begins ... read morewith an understanding of international law on the use of armed force and a literature review of the realist and liberal institutionalist theories of compliance. The paper then shifts to study the justifications offered by the United States and Russia for their military interventions abroad, along with reactions to these arguments by other actors in the international arena. The conceptual framework built upon in the literature review will then be applied to the conduct of U.S. and Russia and the justifications offered to analyze whether realism or institutionalism can better explain compliance, or lack thereof, with international law on the use of armed force. The paper weighs the analytical strengths and limits of each theory by exploring legal arguments offered by great powers and the responses of other actors in the international system. The paper concludes with an understanding that while institutionalism can explain argumentation and why great powers want to appear compliant with international law, it is realism that has more explanatory power on the question of compliance itself.
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Masters of Law in International Law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Submitted to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Advisor: Ian Johnstone.read less - ID:
- hx11xw19c
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
- Usage:
- Detailed Rights
