Threatened Military Invasion as a Means of Dispute Resolution in International Relations: An Appraisal
Abstract:Threatened military invasion is not new on the global scene. It was used even before the First and the Second World Wars. The current notion of threatened military invasion, however, has its historical roots in the Cold War after the Second World War. The Cold War period lasted until 1989. The phenomenon again emerged after September 11, 2001, when mighty States adopted it as a model of disputes resolution in international relations; pegging their arguments on their inherent right to fight global terrorism. Threatened military invasion offends the letter and spirit of laws governing conduct of international relations. Its modus operandi does not constitute a distinct class of armed conflict apart from international and non-international armed conflicts. This paper contends that threatened military invasion is reminiscent of the Western capitalist mode of production; it is largely used as a tool of economic aggression, but may culminate in armed confrontation. The main objective of the paper is to bring to the realm of knowledge the evils of threatened military invasion under the current international legal order and relations. The paper uses the lenses of feminism perspective to interrogate the rationale behind threatened military invasion under the current international legal order. The paper likens victims of threatened military invasion to a situation of a psychologically battered spouse. The paper concludes that threatened military invasion is increasingly being used today as a tool of economic coercion and recommends a rethink of the value of threatened military invasion in the current international legal order.
Download File [ 1.83 MB ]