Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2004
Abstract
This article analyzes the existing concepts of the right of self-defense and preemption under international law. Part I quickly reviews both the evolution of warfare and the state of religious-based terrorism. The former presents a useful starting point for understanding customary international law and its subset, generally referred to as "the laws and customs of war. Customary international law provides context to the application and shortcomings of contemporary codified international law, and, therefore, serves an important heuristic function in understanding the international legal limits on combating this increasingly frequent form of terrorism. In the end, this article concludes that both anticipatory self-defense and preemption are credible theories in limited circumstances, including those in which an organization employs a visible strategy of terror. Where such strategy is employed, the group and its supporters may be permissibly subject to a response employing military force.
Publication Title
Air Force Law Review
Volume
55
First Page
87
Recommended Citation
Joshua E. Kastenberg,
The Use of Conventional International Law in Combating Terrorism: A Maginot Line for Modern Civilization Employing the Principles of Anticipatory Self-Defense & Preemption,
55
Air Force Law Review
87
(2004).
Available at:
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/429
