International Law & Institutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

International Law & Institutions - Essay guinea pigThis obligation, as it applies to the acts of a single nation, and the rather restrictive exceptions to it are known as the rules on unilateral use of force. At the same time, there is the concept of collective security, which allows the community of nations to arise and oppose an assaulter nation together. This is regulated by the rules of collective security. Therefore, there are many situations where disputes between nations can open frame down into open conflict, and such conflict may s bowl be completely legitimate chthonian transnational law.All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial reserve integrity or semipolitical independence of an State, or in any other manner repugnant with the Purposes of the United Nations.4This builds on the preceding provision which places an obligation on Members to settle disputes peacefully5 which in turn follows from the truly purposes and reasons for the United Nations, that being the maintenance of peace and security and the prevention and removal of threats thereto.6De Arechega describes Article 2(4) as the of import rule of international law and the cornerstone of peaceful relations among States.7 This altered the age-old rule, applying up till 1949, that use of force was a legitimate remedy of last resort in all international disputes. While the Covenant of the League of Nations and the Briand-Kellogg Treaty condemned the resort to war this was interpreted as only covering an all break through declaration of war, and not uses of force short of war, which became in practice, all out war so gigantic as no declaration of such was made. Article 2(4) therefore refers to force and not war and it expressly includes the threat of force. enduringness has been interpreted as armed force of all kinds, but not political pressure or economic sanction. The wording of Article 2(4), although a marked improvement on predecessors, is still open to arguments as to interpretation. Probably the most obvious is the apparent qualification of the obligation only to cases where territorial integrity or political independence is challenged. In the Corfu Channel Case (Albania v United Kingdom)8 the United Kingdom Navy entered Albanian amniotic fluid to sweep mines. The ships did so and then left the Albanian waters. The United Kingdom argued that since its follow through threatened uncomplete the territory nor independence of Albania, it did not breach 2(4). The International Court of Justice decided however that the action of the United Kingdom was an unlawful use of force.9 Article 2(4) can therefore, as far as it goes, be seen as a effective obligation on states to genuinely refrain from the use of force. However, despite its legal validity, it may not have been quite so successful in practice. If Article 2(4) can be seen as a failure, I think the clearest demonstration of this is s een in the context of the Cold contend. The Cold War attacked the resolve of 2(4) in two ways. The first was by changes in technology and the scope and effects that warfare would take on in the post nuclear