Recchia & Welsh: Just and Unjust Military Intervention: European Thinkers from Vitoria to Mill

Stefano Recchia (Univ. of Cambridge - Politics and International Studies) & Jennifer M. Welsh (European Univ. Institute - Political and Social Sciences) have published Just and Unjust Military Intervention: European Thinkers from Vitoria to Mill (Cambridge Univ. Press 2013). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Classical arguments about the legitimate use of force have profoundly shaped the norms and institutions of contemporary international society. But what specific lessons can we learn from the classical European philosophers and jurists when thinking about humanitarian intervention, preventive self-defense or international trusteeship today? The contributors to this volume take seriously the admonition of contextualist scholars not to uproot classical thinkers' arguments from their social, political and intellectual environment. Nevertheless, this collection demonstrates that contemporary students, scholars and policymakers can still learn a great deal from the questions raised by classical European thinkers, the problems they highlighted, and even the problematic character of some of the solutions they offered. The aim of this volume is to open up current assumptions about military intervention, and to explore the possibility of reconceptualizing and reappraising contemporary approaches.

Schmitt: 'Below the Threshold' Cyber Operations: The Countermeasures Response Option and International Law

Michael N. Schmitt (Naval War College - International Law; Univ. of Exeter - Law) has posted 'Below the Threshold' Cyber Operations: The Countermeasures Response Option and International Law (Virginia Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The article examines the international law governing State responses to cyber operations that do not rise to the level of an armed attack under the law of self-defense. Once the operations reach that level, forceful responses are, in certain circumstances, permitted. However, it is generally accepted that force, whether kinetic or cyber in nature, may not be employed in response to operations of lesser severity. Instead, the State is limited to acts in retorsion (unfriendly but lawful) or countermeasures. Countermeasures, which comprise acts that would be unlawful but for the unlawful actions of the other State, are subject to significant conditions and limitations. The article examines them in the cyber context.