The Legal Power to Launch War: Who Decides?

Author: Michael Head
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781138292086
Published In: December 2018
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Description
Contents

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The issue of who has the power to declare war or authorise military action in a democracy has become a major legal and political issue, internationally, and is set to become even more pertinent in the immediate future, particularly in the wake of military action in Syria, ongoing wars in the Middle East, and tense discussions between the US, its allies, Russia, and China.

This book comparatively examines the executive and prerogative powers to declare war or launch military action, focusing primarily on the US, UK, and Australia. It explores key legal and constitutional questions, including:

Who currently has the power/authority to declare war?
Who currently has the power to launch military action without formally declaring war?
How, if at all, can those powers be controlled, legally or politically?
What are the domestic legal consequences of going to war?

In addition to probing the extensive domestic legal consequences of going to war, the book also reviews various proposals that have been advanced for interrogating the power to commence armed conflict, and explores the reasons why these propositions have failed to win support within the political establishment.

Preface

Introduction: What is at stake?

Chapter 1: War and democracy

Chapter 2: Vietnam, Iraq and the ‘war on terror’: Deception, war propaganda and legislative approval

Chapter 3: Increasingly unrestrained war powers in the United States: from Truman to Trump

Chapter 4: Britain’s royal war prerogative reasserted and reinforced

Chapter 5: From Whitehall to the White House: The war power in Australia—from legal subordination to political subservience

Chapter 6: The failure of reform proposals: An Australian case study

Chapter 7: War and dissent: sweeping domestic powers

Chapter 8: Contemporary preparations for wartime measures

Chapter 9: Martial law, official lawlessness and judicial complicity

Chapter 10: Can international law stop wars of aggression?