Human rights, intervention and the use of force

Abstract

* Of huge topical importance in the wake of the Kosovan declaration of independence; * Examines the foundational challenges of sovereignty, human rights and security in the post 9/11 era; * Considers the achievability of both procedural and substantive legitimacy for liberal democracies; * Looks at the impact of national security needs on the development of the international legal regime. The imperatives of sovereignty, human rights and national security very often pull in different directions, yet the relations between these three different notions are considerably more subtle than those of simple opposition. Rather, their interaction may at times be contradictory, at others tense, and at others even complementary. This collection presents an analysis of the irreducible dilemmas posed by the foundational challenges of sovereignty, human rights and security, not merely in terms of the formal doctrine of their disciplines, but also of the manner in which they can be configured in order to achieve persuasive legitimacy as to both methods and results. The chapters in this volume represent an attempt to face up to these dilemmas in all of their complexity, and to suggest ways in which they can be confronted productively both in the abstract and in the concrete circumstances of particular cases.