Part XI Disputes, 33 The Use or Threat of Force by States

Subject(s):

Self-defence — Humanitarian intervention — Aggression — Universal international organizations

This chapter discusses international law governing the use or threat of force by states. The UN Security Council has primary responsibility for enforcement action to deal with breaches of the peace, threats to the peace, or acts of aggression. Individual member states have the right of individual or collective self-defence, but only ‘until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security’. Enforcement action may involve the use of force against a state. However, the practice has evolved of authorizing peacekeeping operations that are contingent upon the consent of the state whose territory is the site of the operations.