Author: Alex Conte
ISBN No: 0-7546-2442-0
Review date: 15/06/2026
No of pages: 330
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing
Year of publication:
Brief:
About the author: A Barrister of the High Court of New Zealand and lecturer in law at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
This book is definitely one for the legal eagles amongst you but the subject matter will be of far wider interest for how often have security professionals recently thought about the threat from terrorism? Has that threat been addressed โ or increased โ through the military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq? Understanding the legitimacy of such interventions requires certainty as to the legal position upon which the military actions have been based. Readers will recall the active debate held during the period of the last election as to the nature of the Attorney Generalโs advice to the UK Government in justification of the invasion of Iraq. Should they wish to gain a wider understanding of the international law and the role of the United Nations in deciding, or not as the case may be, the legal position of countries involved in the war against terrorism then they should read this fascinating book.
The author covers the background to the terrorist attacks on America in September 2001, the subsequent military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq and discusses the issues from the perspective of international law and the role of the United Nations. The author while clearly a lawyer behaves somewhat differently to the archetypical advocate in that he offers real clarity as to the legal position but more importantly at page 161 he states quite unequivocally that, โthe use of force against Iraq was unjustifiable at international law.โ He further stresses that it is for the United Nations Security Council to maintain international peace and security and that it is, โnot open for individual member States to circumvent that authority by acting without the express command of the Council.โ If there was any doubt as to the value of this book in the minds of potential purchasers then the above quoted clarity of legal opinion of the author is indicative of the depth of understanding of the issues and quality of the writing, never could so difficult and important an issue be so simply explained. This book should be widely read and thought given as to what it tells us.
Martin Wright
