ABSTRACT
With the recent coalition action in Iraq, attention among international lawyers interested in the system for normative ordering of international security relationships has largely been focused on the arguments for and against the establishment of preemptive strike principles in both national security policy and international law to deal with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The maintenance and legitimacy of such a principle, it is argued by some, are necessary to protect against the threats arising from such proliferation, including the acquisition and use of such technologies by states and non-state actors perceived to pose a threat to international peace and security.
