ABSTRACT
The present chapter spans the five decades during which the US claimed that it was impossible to define aggression. Negotiations pertaining to a definition of aggression, a code of Crimes against Peace and security of humanity, and a statute for a permanent international criminal court were considered to be interrelated. Thus, an impasse in the negotiations relating to one matter -the crime of aggression- hindered progress in relation to the others. The chapter examines the implications of the only significant exception to this impasse, namely the adoption by the UN General Assembly of a consensus definition of aggression (UN Res 3314 (1974)). It considers the implications of the US abstention in the vote and its argument that such a definition would not be relevant for the purposes of international criminal law. The US contribution regarding the adoption of another important resolution, that is UN Res 2625 (1970), as well as in respect of all UN resolutions and treaties adopted during the Cold War and concerning the outer space, is also analysed. Lastly, special attention is paid to the US proposal during the first Gulf War to try Saddam Hussein for crime of aggression.
