Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2002
Publication Information
20 Sicherheit & Frieden 136 (2002).
Abstract
The Administration of George W. Bush is by now famous for its unilateralism. In its first months in office, the Administration made clear that it would not cooperate in major multilateral initiatives on the environment, arms control, and human rights. The September 11 attacks caused a momentary lull in the pursuit of unilateralism, but by November 2001, the lull was over. Unilateralism was back in full swing. Unilateralism, however, does not necessarily violate international law. The international legal system was formed to accommodate independent, sovereign states. It provides plenty of space for states to »go it alone.« And while it is true that the more states agree to limit sovereign prerogatives, the more the law can advance, it is also the case that merely slowing down the progress of law is not the same as violating it. The Bush Administration's new policy on pre-emptive military force, however, does violate the law. It rests on a world view that goes beyond unilateralism. Only an Administration which sees the US as enjoying an exceptional place in the legal system could put forward such a policy. Yet US, does not enjoy an exceptional place in the legal system. By embracing pre-emption, the US moves beyond mere unilateralism, to far more dangerous.
Recommended Citation
Mary Ellen O'Connell,
Pre-Emption and Exception: The US Moves Beyond Unilaterism,
20 Sicherheit & Frieden 136 (2002)..
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/1841
Comments
Abstract from introduction.