Terrorism and the Rule of Law

Washington U School of Law Working Paper No. 03-01-02

Washington University Global Studies Law Review, Vol. 3, 135

reprinted with updates in The International Humanitarian Law Dialogs, August 29, 2007: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of The Hague Rules of 1907 (American Society of International Law 2008)

20 Pages Posted: 24 Apr 2003 Last revised: 11 Sep 2020

See all articles by Leila N. Sadat

Leila N. Sadat

Washington University in St. Louis - School of Law; Yale Law School

Date Written: February 14, 2003

Abstract

In Terrorism and the Rule of Law, I argue that a "rule of law" approach to the use of force is not only required by the United Nations Charter framework, but is the strategy most likely to be successful in the long term in protecting the national security of the United States. Specifically, rather than attempting a post-hoc rationalization of what the United States did after September 11, 2001, I suggest that what it could and should have done was to obtain a Security Council Resolution specifically authorizing the Afghan campaign. Such a Resolution would have been, in my view, not only attainable, but desirable. I conclude that the U.S. lost a tremendous opportunity to reinforce norms of international law that could now assist it in its struggle against international terrorism, and suggest that the current unilateralist tendencies of the government are generally destabilizing and potentially injurious to U.S. interests.

Suggested Citation

Sadat, Leila N., Terrorism and the Rule of Law (February 14, 2003). Washington U School of Law Working Paper No. 03-01-02, Washington University Global Studies Law Review, Vol. 3, 135, reprinted with updates in The International Humanitarian Law Dialogs, August 29, 2007: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of The Hague Rules of 1907 (American Society of International Law 2008), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=387460 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.387460

Leila N. Sadat (Contact Author)

Washington University in St. Louis - School of Law ( email )

Campus Box 1120
St. Louis, MO 63130
United States
314-935-6411 (Phone)
314-935-5356 (Fax)

Yale Law School ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06510
United States
3143042757 (Phone)

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