ABSTRACT
It is close to being a truism to say that the legality of the use of force is a current issue in international politics. The use of the military as an instrument of state policy has been one of the constant themes of international relations and remains so, as current operations in Afghanistan and Iraq well demonstrate. It is also necessary today to assume that such uses of force are only fully justified if they satisfy certain legal requirements. This has not always been the case, however.
