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International Law and the Use of Force: Beyond the U.N. Charter Paradigm

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Anthony Clark Arend and Robert Beck have written an intellectually honest piece exploring the use of force under international law. The book begins with a discussion of the development of the law regarding the use of force from ancient times to the writing of the United Nations charter. The book then goes on to fairly examine state behavior since the UN Charter and poses the question: how has custom strayed from the thinking that inspired the Charter and the mechanisms that it set up. They give an objective, balanced overview of the state of law regarding a number of issues from intervention in civil and mixed conflict to rescue of nationals abroad and dealing with terrorists. Though they discuss all sides of the issue, Arend and Beck ultimately conclude that although international law's intentions at the end of World War II were nobel -- and despite the fact that the Charter paradigm still exists on paper -- a realistic assessment of the facts requires the conclusion that the paradigm has been rejected by states through their practices and thereby ceased to be international law.