Part 2 The Post-Cold War Era (1990–2000), 44 The US Strikes in Sudan and Afghanistan—1998

Subject(s):

Terrorism — Self-defence — Warfare, air

This Chapter focuses on the aerial strikes of the U.S. against Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998, in response to terrorist attacks against the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and in Kenya, attributed to Al Qaeda. The events and the reactions thereto are presented in the first two sections. The third section is devoted to the assessment of the legality of the US strikes. In particular, the authors will discuss the qualification of the strikes as a form of pre-emptive self-defence. The last section contextualises the 1998 strikes in an evolutionary perspective. In the authors’ view, these interventions have constituted a trial run for the doctrine of pre-emptive war, fully developed by the US Administration after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.