ABSTRACT
This chapter prefers to try to answer some of the questions which are now stirring in the minds of many laymen upon the meaning of the term "Collective Security" and upon the true place of force in a system of international law. The treaties emanating from that Conference embody a new principle, commonly called the principle or policy of Collective Security, to which at present fifty-eight governments (including our own) stand pledged. Collective security will result from an accumulation of effective pieces of collective action. No member of the League is compelled to contribute armed force in defence of the Covenant, but in certain events the Covenant authorizes it to do so if in its discretion it should think fit. A member of the League before co-operating in any sanction that is likely to provoke an attack by the aggressor affected by it must realize that in such an event it will be necessary to use force.
