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'Manifestly Failing' and 'Unwilling or Unable' as Intervention Formulas: A Critical Assessment

Bode, Ingvild (2017) 'Manifestly Failing' and 'Unwilling or Unable' as Intervention Formulas: A Critical Assessment. In: Warren, Aiden and Grenfell, Damian, eds. Rethinking Intervention: Security and the Limits of Humanitarian Intervention. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-2381-6. E-ISBN 978-1-4744-2383-0. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:58745)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)
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Abstract

After 2001, states have increasingly used the “unwilling or unable” formula when justifying military intervention against terrorist targets, such as the United States with respect to targeted killings outside declared theatres of conflict. Moreover, the closely related term “manifestly failing,” serves as a key determinant triggering the international community’s responsibility for protecting vulnerable populations following the third pillar of the responsibility to protect (R2P). Since 2014, the “unwilling and unable” formula has also served as a legal justification for international air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria, despite the Syrian state having declared its willingness to cooperate. Given the formula’s apparent rising prominence, the paper will critically discuss the legal foundations and policy practice of the “unwilling and unable” standard and evaluate what this means for developments of state sovereignty. This examination will relate the formula to other legal justifications for intervening militarily, such as state consent, especially in the context of state disintegration.

Item Type: Book section
Uncontrolled keywords: “unwilling or unable,” state intervention, sovereignty, terrorists actors, responsibility to protect, United States, Security Council, international law, Syria
Subjects: J Political Science > JZ International relations
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Politics and International Relations
Depositing User: Ingvild Bode
Date Deposited: 17 Nov 2016 15:03 UTC
Last Modified: 29 Sep 2021 10:50 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/58745 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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