Abstract

Lawyers never make things easier. They fail to give straight answers and if they do, it only makes matters worse. This is particularly true for international lawyers, who work with a system that lacks both a central legislature and an effective enforcement mechanism.

It is thus no surprise that when Robin Cook, then the UK Foreign Secretary, told US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 1999 that his lawyers advised against bombing Yugoslavia, she responded: “Get new lawyers”.

This talk explores why international law often fails to provide clear answers to seemingly straightforward questions. It does so by taking on one of the most controversial issues in the law of nations: foreign military intervention, from Kosovo and Iraq to Libya and Syria.