International Studies Journal (ISJ)

International Studies Journal (ISJ)

The role of warfare in IR: "Just war" and doctrine of "preemption" as United States Strategy in war on terror

Document Type : Extension Article

Authors
1 Professor and Special assistant to the Principal of the Royal military College of Canada for national and international liaison
2 Graduate student in War Studies from the Royal military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
The global war on terrorism as currently waged is a strategic error. Its stated goals are unrealistic and condemn the United States to a hopeless quest for absolute security. Its strategies are politically, fiscally, and militarily very difficult to sustain and its methods lacks moral justification and contravenes international laws. Containment policy worked with the Soviets for several decades. The Soviet experience holds important lessons for current U.S. foreign policy. 1967 is attestation that first strikes quickly and irrevocably remove diplomatic options off the table. An over-reliance on preemption can lead to the downplaying of diplomacy. Today, the doctrine of preemption has fallen on hard times. Far from demonstrating the principle's effectiveness, the Iraq war and its aftermath have ultimately underscored its limits. Preemptive war is not and cannot be just.
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