The Bush Doctrine, collective security and the UN: legal and institutional context for pre-emption

This project examines whether the right of self-defence under the U.N. Charter now has a wider application due to a doctrine of 'pre-emption.' This project evaluates the right of self-defence within an institutional context in order to assess critically the rationale for the Bush Doctrine and the justifications for the war on Iraq (2003). The Bush Doctrine can be understood as the dominant response to the challenges of 9/11, and forces us to examine terrorism and collective security when the use of force in an arena of sovereign nations is highly contested. The objective is to show that the Bush Doctrine has demonstrated a gap between the principles of the UN Collective Security system and the Charter governing the right of self-defence, and actual practice. This project also argues that in assessing the legitimacy of US actions, it is important to distinguish principle from practice.