Limits of Law, Prerogatives of Power : Interventionism after Kosovo

With the end of the Cold War, many believed that a new, more stableinternational legal order would emerge. But an enormous gap in values-most noticeably concerning armed intervention-has prevented that from happening. One group of nations continues to cling to the United Nations Charter's ban against intervention, while another group-led by NATO and the UN Security Council itself-openly violates that prohibition. In fact, the ban has been breached so often that it can no longer be regarded as authoritative. Whether the resulting legal vacuum can be filled is the overriding international question of the era.

Michael J. Glennon is Professor of International Law at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. From 1977 to 1980 he was Legal Counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Kosovo and the United Nations Charter * The Effect of State Practice on the Charter * State Practice: The Charter and Interstate Violence * Security Council Practice: The Charter and Intrastate Violence * The Collapse of Consent: Is a Legalist Use-of-Force Regime Possible?* The International System's Parallel Universe: Is a Legalist Use-of-Force Regime Desirable?
Kosovo and the United Nations Charter * The Effect of State Practice on the Charter * State Practice: The Charter and Interstate Violence * Security Council Practice: The Charter and Intrastate Violence * The Collapse of Consent: Is a Legalist Use-of-Force Regime Possible?* The International System's Parallel Universe: Is a Legalist Use-of-Force Regime Desirable?