Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: On September 20, 2002, President Bush issued the National Security Strategy of the United States of America ("National Security Strategy").'Expanding this country's right of preemption in foreign affairs -a right known formally as "anticipatory self-defense" under international law 2 -the new American doctrine asserts, inter alia, that "[t]raditional concepts of deterrence will not work against a terrorist enemy whose avowed tactics are wanton destruction and the targeting of innocents...."' The doctrine goes on: "We must adapt the concept of imminent threat to the capabilities and objectives of today's adversaries.' 4 This "adaptation" means nothing less than striking first where an emergent threat to the United States is presumed to be unacceptable.5 Might the broadened right of preemption include assassination?Normally we think of preemptive strikes in terms of military operations against enemy forces and/or 6 infrastructures.Moreover, there are substantial prohibitions of assassination in domestic and international law 7 that would seem prima facie to rule out this use of
Author: Louis René Beres
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2886352896