ABSTRACT
Professor Richard Bilder presents a balanced, thorough analysis of the issues. When considering disputes involving the use of force, the United States and other countries ought to focus more on the possibilities for using formal dispute mechanisms other than the International Court of Justice. Arbitration provides the parties much more flexibility and discretion than the International Court of Justice (I.C.J.), whose structure and rules have been largely determined by the international community. The relative usefulness of the various international dispute resolution institutions is suggested in part by the frequency with which they are resorted to, even though these institutions might be handling different kinds of cases among different types of parties. Arbitration is a growth stock industry. Even with the success of the Security Council in forging a consensus on UN resolutions in the Iraq-Kuwait matter, the veto remains as a potential obstacle to future enforcement of I.C.J. decisions.
