Reading: International law in foreign policy

Question 1

What role does international law play in Public diplomacy?

Answer 1

States use it as a tool to legitimize/justify military actions

Question 2

An example where a state used international law in order to justify its military action?

Answer 2

The US used it as an argument for both the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. In both examples, they used the reasoning of Chapter 7 in the UN charter on the legal use of force, based on the legal principle of self-defense. In the case of Afghanistan, the preconditions to the use of self-defense were found to be present due to the 9/11 terrorist attack.

In the case of Iraq, these preconditions were not present, and it almost ended the UN.