International law expert Michael Byers uses case studies of wars and military actions to examine the role and evolution of laws surrounding armed conflict. He focuses much attention on the influence of the United States without being overly critical of the nation, and explains how "many rules of customary international law have been 'codified' into treaty provisions."
Rules of law, historically, are a recent advent: "Prior to the adoption of the [United Nations] Charter in 1945, international law imposed few constraints on the recourse to arms."
Byers notes that every country has the right to oppose new war laws as they are developing, but also that the debate over self-defense is a wide-ranging and complex one. He asks whether anything "'unreasonable or excessive'" can be labeled as such in self-defense cases, whether "punishing Iraq" after a car bomb was directed at George H.W. Bush could be counted as self-defense, and whether the United States has the right to self-defense against international terrorism.
"As a result of the law-making strategies adopted by the United States and heightened concern about terrorism worldwide," he writes, "the right of self-defense now includes military responses against countries that willingly harbor or support terrorist groups, provided that the terrorists have already struck the responding state."
Byers also examines war crimes and international tribunals, as well as "the non-violent monitoring of ceasefires" and recommendations that United Nations members lend assistance to invaded or war-torn countries - other than those invaded or war-torn by the United States.
"In 1993, NATO, embarrassed by massacres in the UN 'safe havens' in the former Yugoslavia, and Europe's failure to stop them, bombed Serbian weapons and supply lines in Bosnia. The bombing was conducted under a complex mandate, provided through UN Security Council Resolution 836 of 4 June 1993, which required close cooperation on targeting decisions between NATO and then UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali."
Byers looks at "strictly legal perspectives" when examining UN authorizations and fundamentals of human rights on an international level, but the entire book is readable, accessible and telling, especially when looking at how the United States deals preemptively with countries "that harbor or otherwise support international terrorists" or threaten imminent attack, such as with weapons of mass destruction.
"[T]he criterion of imminence would more likely be regarded as fulfilled when the United States wished to act militarily than when other countries wished to do the same."
Preemptive self-defense and "pro-democratic intervention," Byers notes, has not gained the international support necessary to change international war law. -- Jeanie Straub

An inconvenient truth type of facts. You’ll wish that you’re not living in this world after reading this book. Many historical event been illustrated and how the law handles each case.

According to my understanding of the broad international law, it is not legally binding the states at large. Classic example can be drawn from the Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Despite many resolutions been passed by the United Nation, Iraq failed to comply with any of the resolution. I obtained a better understanding on the Iraq affair that it has nothing to do with the thirst for oil, but the truth is Iraq been suspected of possession of weapons of mass destruction.

Besides the Iraq cases, this book talks about other world issues – such as the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, Nicaragua case, Rwanda domestic friction between the Hutus and the Tutsis, etc – more than you can find from a big piles of years of newspaper.

I felt quite uncomfortable with the existence of the UN Security Council in handling world issues. Most of the resolutions passed by the UNSC are shaped for their own convenience. I have more to talk about the UNSC and Bush Administration in my thesis that’s due next month, so I won’t go any further. I feel that the world community should study this book. I mean study because a mere reading does not provide better view. This book is selected as my favorite book of the year.

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